Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily. NBA Finals are here!
Giannis Antetokounmpo made another classic NBA Finals moment as the Bucks get closer to the NBA championship.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Christian Petersen/Getty Images.)
If you are missing this NBA Finals and you call yourself a basketball fan, maybe you really aren’t a basketball fan. Because this men’s professional league that is that the best in the world is playing some high-level hoops.
The Suns came out like gangbusters in the newly-christened Footprint Center. Phoenix shot the lights out and it seemed like it was going to be a blowout early. They led the Bucks, 37-21, after the first quarter.
But that deficit was quickly erased as Milwaukee started the second with a 16-3 run. Jrue Holiday was huge in that second, scoring 14 points in that period. Just like that, Milwaukee led at halftime after they scored a whopping 43 points in those 12 minutes.
Phoenix got iso-heavy with Devin Booker in the second half. It became a duel between Booker and Khris Middleton for a little bit. But then Giannis Antetokounmpo and Holiday got heavily involved later and, suddenly, the Bucks were up by double digits. What a turnaround it was.
Milwaukee led by 14 in the fourth. But the Suns have a high-powered offense so they were able to chip into the lead. Mikal Bridges made two huge threes. Chris Paul was big in the fourth. A fading three by Booker cut the lead to three. Then Paul’s lay-up made it a one-point game. It was nervous time in the Foot. Or the Print. It should be the latter because calling it The Foot sounds a tad disgusting.
Holiday missed a short fling and the Suns got the ball back with under 30 seconds left. Booker dribbled into the key before Holiday ripped the ball out of his hands. It led to a play that will ALSO be replayed over the years: Holiday threw a lob to a running Giannis and was fouled (a DANGEROUS FOUL) by Paul to give the Bucks a three-point cushion. You’ll see that play down in the usual section.
Giannis still had to make the foul shot. He missed it but he was able to back tap the ball to the hands of Khris Middleton. While Middleton missed the first to give the Bucks fans a reason to bite their nails, he made the second to give Milwaukee a safe four-point lead. Phoenix couldn’t muster much in under 10 seconds and the Bucks are going back home with a chance to clinch the championship.
Both teams had incredible shooting performances with the Bucks shooting over 57 percent while the Suns shot over 55 percent. Milwaukee’s three stars had it going: Giannis poured in a pretty quiet 32 points as we noticed more of Middleton’s shooting (29 points) and Holiday’s playmaking (27 points and 13 assists). Pat Connaughton made four big threes on his way to 14 points.
The Suns got 40 points from Booker. It was great but it felt like his iso-heavy play shut most of the other Suns out for most of the second half. It was better in the fourth as Paul scored 10 points of his 21 in the fourth. The Suns still had every chance to win the game but we’ll look at that Holiday rip and Giannis alley-oop as an all-timer end-to-end sequence.
It’s easy to say that the Bucks can take Game 6 and the title on Tuesday. But the postseason has been the most unpredictable in… maybe ever? Yes, COVID and injuries played a huge part but we’ve seen the Bucks come back from deficits and we’ve seen the Suns be resilient all season. We’re likely going to get another classic Finals game in what has been a marvelous series.
And people said that the NBA Finals wouldn’t be great without the usual suspects.
Bullet Passes
The Pelicans are going with a new face for their head coaching gig. Willie Green had a 12-year playing career in the league. He spent his first 7 years with the Sixers before having stints with the New Orleans HORNETS, Atlanta Hawks, L.A. Clippers, and the Orlando Magic.
Green went into coaching in 2016 and was an assistant in Golden State. He was part of the coaching staff that won championships in 2017 and 2018. He’s currently an assistant with Phoenix and Green will leave that post to coach Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
Wes Unseld, Jr. will follow his father’s footsteps as he takes the Washington Wizards head coaching gig. Unlike his father, he didn’t forge a playing career BUT he did work for his dad in the Wizards. He eventually became an assistant for the Wizards before having stops at Golden State and Orlando. He was an assistant for Denver the last 6 years and he will return to D.C. this coming season as the head man.
The 8 head coaching vacancies this offseason were taken by 7 black men and Rick Carlisle. That brings the total to 13 black men in 30 NBA head coaching jobs.
I was hoping to see women like Becky Hammon and Dawn Staley get a gig. It didn’t happen this season but I’m hoping that hiring a woman for a head coaching job will occur much sooner than later.
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
July 17, 2021
NBA Playoff Series Count
NBA FINALS
Bucks lead Suns, 3-2.
EAST
#3 Bucks defeat #5 Hawks, 4-2.
#5 Hawks defeat #1 Sixers, 4-3.
#3 Bucks defeat #2 Nets, 4-3.
#1 Sixers defeat #8 Wizards, 4-1.
#5 Hawks defeat #4 Knicks, 4-1.
#2 Nets defeat #7 Celtics, 4-1.
#3 Bucks defeat #6 Heat, 4-0.
WEST
#2 Suns defeat #4 Clippers, 4-2.
#4 Clippers defeat #1 Jazz, 4-2.
#2 Suns defeat #3 Nuggets, 4-0.
#1 Jazz defeat #8 Grizzlies, 4-1.
#4 Clippers defeat #5 Mavericks, 4-3.
#2 Suns defeat #7 Lakers, 4-2.
#3 Nuggets defeat #6 Blazers, 4-2.
Watch This Play
That alley-oop, man. That oop.
Booker gets ripped by Holiday who hits Giannis for the slam pic.twitter.com/fXJsQa8mUO
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) July 18, 2021
Tuesday could be the end of it all! We’ll see.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.
R.I.P. Nala.