MANILA – Phoenix Suns survived Milwaukee Bucks’ late uprising to post a 118-108 win in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
Devin Booker top-scored for the Suns with 31 points, while Mikal Bridges chipped in 27 points as the Suns took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven titular showdown.
Chris Paul obtained 23 points to go with eight assists, Jae Crowder tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Deandre Ayton dropped 10 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix.
The Suns, however, were decimated anew after defensive forward Torrey Craig sprained his ankle. They also lost Dario Saric for the rest of the series after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in Game 1.
The Bucks surged to 21-12 at the onset of the match on seven straight points by P.J. Tucker. The Suns rallied to claim a 26-25 advantage, but Milwaukee scored 29-26 on inside shots by Bobby Portis Jr.
The Bucks were soaring at 33-30 in the second period before the Suns evened the score at 41-all and pulled away to 56-45 halftime edge on inside conversions by Paul and Ayton and triples by Crowder and Bridges.
Seeing the double-digit edge posted by Phoenix rose in the third quarter, Milwaukee banked on aggressive plays by Giannis Antetokounmpo to keep the match close and cut the deficit to 88-93 in the fourth quarter.
The Suns countered the Bucks’ onslaught with back-to-back triples by Booker and Ayton to lift their edge to 103-90. Milwaukee had its last push at 97-103 with four minutes remaining, but a three-pointer by Paul, inside shots from Crowder, and free throws by Bridges secured the win for Phoenix.
Antetokounmpo dropped 42 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, while Jrue Holiday and Pat Connaughton added 17 and 14 markers, respectively.
BOX SCORE:
PHOENIX 118 – Booker 31, Bridges 27, Paul 23, Crowder 11, Ayton 10, Johnson 8, Craig 6, Payne 2, Nader 0, Kaminsky 0.
MILWAUKEE 108 – G. Antetokoumpo 42, Holiday 17, Connaughton 14, Middleton 11, Lopez 8, Tucker 7, Teague 4, Forbes 3, Portis 2, Bryant 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
26-29; 56-45; 88-78; 118-108./PN
