Phoenix Suns: 3 Most Important Matchups vs Milwaukee Bucks NBA Finals

Breaking through a cloudy NBA postseason, filled with injuries and unexpected twists, the Phoenix Suns keep charging forward, refusing to let their lights dim out. Neither a Chris Paul COVID-19 diagnosis, nor a broken nose for Devin Booker has managed to halt the team during their quest for a title, as the Suns continue to display all the resiliency and toughness required to make an NBA Finals appearance.

We find ourselves on this grandest stage now, with the Suns reaching the Finals for the first time since 1993. Emerging from the Eastern Conference come the Milwaukee Bucks, looking to cool down the Suns—a task that sounds almost impossible to accomplish by its basketball and astronomical definition.

During the regular season, Phoenix won both contests against the Bucks, but each one ended by a single point’s margin. The Suns hosted the first matchup during early February, but the visiting Bucks blasted them to start the game, finishing the first half up 71-59.

However, Phoenix chipped away as things progressed, eventually establishing a lead for themselves a few minutes into the fourth quarter. Milwaukee kept stride after that, but never regained the advantage. Giannis Antetokounmpo found himself with a good look to hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer, but misfired.

The Greek Freak finished with a whopping 47 points and 11 rebounds. Booker and Paul combined for 58 points, and Frank Kaminsky played surprisingly well, adding 14 points, eight rebounds, and a career-high eight assists.

Their following bout roughly two months later came as an equally entertaining sequel, even taking an extra period to decide. This one stayed close from start to finish, with neither team able to establish a double-digit lead.

Antetokounmpo played only a few seconds during the game’s overtime period, injuring himself while chasing down a loose ball. Khris Middleton kept the Bucks alive though contributing 26 points and five assists. But with the game tied as the clock ticked down once again, a questionable shooting foul awarded Booker some free throws with no time left to play. He sank his first one, ending the affair.

With their victories over Milwaukee this year literally coming as close as possible from a numerical standpoint, the Suns need to focus in now, clearly with little room to make any mistakes. This starts with each player simply doing their job—winning their matchup. For the Suns, these three ones seem the most crucial.

Phoenix Suns NBA Finals Matchup: Mikal Bridges needs to limit Khris Middleton’s Scoring

With Antetokounmpo’s hyper-extended knee pasting an incredibly large question mark over Milwaukee’s starting lineup right now, it remains unknown who might need to shift where, making it impossible to know for sure which Suns might matchup against which Bucks.

But with Khris Middleton playing so well lately, even leading some to view him as Milwaukee’s “Batman” rather than “Robin,” it feels reasonable to expect the Suns to put their best defender on him, that being Mikal Bridges.

With impressive lateral quickness and an extended wingspan, Bridges stands fully equipped to bother Middleton, surely helping Phoenix’s cause. Averaging 24.7 points per game since Antetokounmpo’s injury, Middleton all too recently lead Milwaukee past the Atlanta Hawks with incredible poise and assertiveness.

But even if Antetokounmpo returns for Game 1, Middleton still remains an all too important player to not prioritize while on defense. He scored 38 points during his last contest with a healthy Antetokounmpo, going 6-12 from distance. No matter how you look at it, Middleton warrants concern.

During this postseason, Milwaukee owns an 11-0 record when Middleton shoots above 40.0 percent from the field. But all other games have the Bucks at 1-5. Clearly, the Suns need Bridges to use that wingspan and get into Middleton’s grill whenever he rises up for his trademark jump shot.

Middleton also outweighs Bridges by about 15 pounds, but the two stand equally tall at 6’7. Luckily, Middleton typically neglects from playing hard-nosed, physical basketball, averaging 9.4 pull up field goal attempts per game this postseason.

In doing this, Middleton denies himself any chance to exploit his lone advantage over Bridges. Let him continue doing that though, instead just focus on challenging his jump shot, and get his field goal percentage under 40.0 percent by any means necessary.

Phoenix Suns NBA Finals Matchup: Chris Paul needs to score on Jrue Holiday

For his career against Jrue Holiday, Chris Paul averages 18.4 points per game, shooting a clean 48.5 percent from the field and 42.0 percent from beyond the arc. Those numbers all exceed his total career marks, presenting this matchup as a possible kink in Milwaukee’s armor—which the Suns must target.

Luckily, Paul just came off arguably his best game even as a 36-year old. Against the Los Angeles Clippers, he tied a playoff-career high with 41 points, adding seven rebounds and four turnovers, all the while refusing to turn the ball over even once. Just an absolute beauty from the Point God.

But as for Holiday, he gave up a 43.8 opponent field goal percentage on mid-range shots during the regular season this year, the worst mark amongst all Bucks. We all know how much Paul enjoys shooting from there, averaging the third most mid-range attempts per game during this year’s postseason.

That essentially sets up a recipe for disaster on Milwaukee’s behalf. It would be beyond foolish for the Suns to ignore Paul’s success against Holiday, and how his strengths match up perfectly with Holiday’s shortcomings.

Almost guaranteed home run opportunities like this rarely present themselves, let alone in the NBA Finals. Paul just needs to stay true to himself, attack with aggression, and it should bode well for Phoenix.

Phoenix Suns NBA Finals Matchup: The Suns need to slow down whatever version of Giannis Antetokounmpo they get

When Giannis Antetokounmpo hyper-extended his knee during the Eastern Conference Finals, most thought the worst immediately after he hit the floor. But although the former back-to-back league MVP missed his team’s next two games, he seems relatively fine, feeling likely to play at some point during this series.

When healthy, Antetokounmpo resembles a top ten NBA talent, absolutely making him someone for the Suns to emphasize shutting down. Even by league-wide standards, the Bucks feature Antetokounmpo at an incredibly high rate, as he own the NBA’s sixth highest usage percentage at 32.0 percent, consequently making him the most relied upon player to play in the Finals this year.

Although certainly easier said than done, neutralizing Antetokounmpo essentially takes an arm and leg away Milwaukee, making it a task worth pursuing. But whether or not Phoenix gets Antetokounmpo in his prime form, they must remain prepared.

If the Greek Freak makes a full recovery, the Suns need to stick to the only game plan that seems to work against him: allowing outside shots while doubling-up inside. Shooting an abysmal 18.2 percent from deep, it remains imperative for the Suns to encourage his outside shooting tendencies.

During both games against the Bucks this year, Phoenix actually started either Dario Saric or Frank Kaminsky, looking to plan as many trees around the rim as possible. Although Jae Crowder’s shooting remains a highly valued tool for the Suns, they might need to sacrifice it early on, and bring all hands on deck around the rim.

The “hack-a-Shaq” method might come of use as well depending on a game’s situation, with Antetokounmpo also shooting an ugly 53.7 from the line. Suns fans, make sure to count on down from 10 on his free-throws as well. If NBA officials refuse to enforce a rule, at least let them keep hearing it.

But with Antetokounmpo possibly missing some burst due to his injury, the Suns should generally approach their defense on him slowly. Take some time and see how he moves, and how much intensity he brings before over-committing to one specific game plan. This might require even more in-game adjustments, but we know head coach Monty Williams can handle that.