PHOENIX — Jew Holiday continued his slow start to the NBA Finals, finishing 7-for-21 with 17 points at the Milwaukee Bucks in a 118-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 on Thursday night at the Phoenix Suns Arena.
But as the series returns to Milwaukee for Game 3 on Sunday night, and the Bucks are now 2-0 down and just short of their goal from their season two defeats, Holiday still has a key figure. Firmly in his corner: Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored a career-high 42 points in 40 minutes on Thursday.
“Just keep talking to him, keep telling him to be aggressive,” Antetokounmpo said in what would be his message to Holiday in Game 3. "No matter what, you have to be aggressive and you can't get in. Your feelings. It's hard not to do that. You know, the NBA Finals, 20,000 people are booing you and all that, it's kind of tough .
"But at the end of the day, it's not about me. It's not about him. It's not about Khris [Middleton]. It's not about the coach. It's about all of us... If there's a game that you're 3-for-12 or whatever the case may be and you can rebound or steal the ball or do anything else to help the team win, that's it. I think he understands it.
"I know he'll be there when we need him the most and I'm not worried about it. He's a great basketball player. He's played great all year long and he'll continue to play well for this team."
Holiday is now 11-for-35 through the first two games of this series and has scored a combined 27 points—the same number he finished in the closeout in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Milwaukee's Atlanta Hawks.
After Game 1, Holiday said he was determined to be more aggressive. He certainly was in Game 2, taking nine shots in the first quarter alone, but the results weren't much different. Holiday finished the first half off the field just 3-for-14, and while he shot the better shot in the second half, going 4-for-7 off the field, it was still time to keep pace with the Bucks. was far below the required performance. Sun.
"I think we had a lot of open shots that we didn't," Holiday said. “I know me personally, there were a couple that I would usually make that kind of rim inside and out. Some looked good.
"Giannis had a great game of penetrating, getting into the basket. I feel like we did a great job of entering and pretending to be other people, but just doing it a little bit better."
Antetokounmpo couldn't have done much better. He was still just nine days away from what looked like a devastating knee injury in Game 4 against the Hawks - later diagnosed as a hyperextended left knee that kept him out for a week and sent him to Game 1 of the final. Seen a comeback Tuesday - Antetokounmpo was brilliant in Game 2.
They finished the game 15-for-22 off the field and 11-for-18 from the free throw line - going there more often than the Suns as a team - adding 12 rebounds, four assists, one steal and three block.
The problem for the Bucks, however, was that they didn't get much help - especially from Holiday and Middleton. In addition to Holiday's 7-for-21 performance, Middleton went 5-for-16 off the field in Game 2 and has yet to attempt a free throw in the series.
Meanwhile, his counterparts at the Sons, Chris Paul and Devin Booker, took them 54-28.
A combined 12-for-37 shooting performance from Holiday and Middleton in Game 2 was the worst by an early backcourt in an NBA Finals game as the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Ron Harper entered a combined 10-for-37 against Indiana. did. Pacer in Game 6 of the 2000 final.
Shaquille O'Neal's 41 points and 12 rebounds in that game were good enough to lead the Lakers to the NBA title. Antetokounmpo's performance, on the other hand, just serves as a small positive on a night the Bucks were unable to even this best-of-seven series.
"Just try to find that balance," Middleton said. "At the same time, try to play through him when he's rolling like this. When he sees the crowd, we should be able to help him."
Still, the shooting crisis for Milwaukee's backcourt was only part of the problem for the Bucks in Game 2.
After the Suns violated their usual norms in Game 1, receiving 26 foul shots—the second-most Milwaukee has allowed in a game this post season—and outscoring Milwaukee in the transition, the Bucks won Game 1 and 2. Spent 48 hours between 2. Saying again and again that they need to rectify both of those issues.
They managed to meet those goals, as Milwaukee finished with a 23–14 advantage in a free throw attempt and a 17–7 lead in fast-break points in Game 2. But while Bucks spent time plugging those holes, it allowed other cracks. Farm in defense of Milwaukee.
Notably, the Suns went 20-for-40 from a 3-point range—with Booker going 7-for-12, three of which came at crucial points in the fourth quarter when the Bucks were threatening to regain themselves. Were. sport.
"I think that's getting a little bit more help," Middleton said, when asked to diagnose what allowed Phoenix to break free so often. "[Paul] and Book, they were able to interrupt and engage in pick-and-role play. Sometimes draw a crowd to help. Sometimes we help excessively and sometimes they Hits hard shots. He did a good job of spreading the floor, reaching the middle and then finding the drive-and-kick and the shooters."
Meanwhile, when Milwaukee tried to stop the Phoenix in the fourth quarter, including downsizing and playing guard Pat Connaughton instead of center Brooke Lopez, in an effort to both juice the offense and put more pressure on the defensive, the Bucks. Failed to get some important defensive rebound.
The most painful of those moments came when the Bucks were trailing six with less than five minutes left and after receiving two offensive rebounds to extend Phoenix's possession, Paul hit the corner to push Phoenix's lead to nine. Buried a 3-pointer.
Milwaukee has never come this close again.
"That's the great part about the playoffs," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said when asked about the option of playing shorter and getting Lopez off the floor. Things need to be played out, and it can hurt you in other areas. It's like that transactional game.
"I thought Brooke had good minutes. I thought Brooke helped us. But that small group, we've done it in other series, other games. They've got rebounds. Everyone has to participate. You To be able is to do both."
The Bucks haven't performed well enough in Game 1 or 2 to win this series. But despite going 2-0 down in Milwaukee, the Bucks were comforted that they were in the same position a few weeks ago when they dropped their opening two games on the road against the Brooklyn Nets. Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Milwaukee won that series in seven games. And, as the Bucks head home, Antetokounmpo was confident that he and his teammates would be able to figure out a way to change the series.
"I think no matter what we say, we know what the deal is," Antetokounmpo said. "It's as simple as that. We have to go back home and do our work. They did their work. We have to do our work."
"We've been here before and we were able to get the job done. Hopefully we can position ourselves and we can believe in each other and we can play together and we can have fun. We can compete and we can dive to the floor, we can make shots, put ourselves in a position to win the game.
"But, like, we know what the deal is, man. We have to go back home and defend the house."