PHOENIX – If there was ever a time for Monty Williams to come up with any of the lines he became known for, it was after his Phoenix Suns lost 123-119 to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of Saturday’s NBA Finals.
The loss marked Phoenix’s third straight final round after the coach’s group lost three straight times in January just once throughout the season. And it came in a painful way: The Suns gambled away an early 16-point cushion and fell back in fourth place 14, only to regain their chance to take the lead in the last minute.
Williams kept his message factual and looked ahead to the 6th game on Tuesday in Milwaukee with the Bucks 3-2 in the series.
“We have to win a game to put them back on the plane,” he said. “It is. And you must have the determination to do whatever you can to get her back on the plane.”
Devin Booker followed 42 points in Game 4 with 40 points in Game 5, becoming the first player in the history of the Final to lose consecutive games in which he scored over 40 points. He still needed a while to go his way.
Booker grabbed the rebound from a Jrue Holiday Miss, 29.2 seconds back in fourth and pushed it up, with the Suns only 120-119 behind after a 12-3 run in the previous three minutes.
Booker went to the heart of the color before taking up his dribble. After his pump fake to get PJ Tucker off his feet, Booker didn’t have enough room to shoot a close-up shot because Giannis Antetokounmpo rushed over to help on the defense, the Suns shooting guard attempted to recalibrate.
But just as Booker was trying to turn to make some room, and his left shoulder swung, Holiday waited on his hip, out of Booker’s peripheral field of vision, and pounced on the ball to remove it from Phoenix’s young star .
“I was just trying to shoot the ball. It was behind me,” Booker said afterwards. “I turned around and he was right there.”
According to research by ESPN Stats & Information, the Suns were 7 out of 10 out of the field with zero ball losses when Booker drove to the basket in Game 5 before the Holiday Steal.
Holiday timed his stroke perfectly and started the Bucks on a break by threading a pre-made alley-oop pass to Antetokounmpo he dived home while absorbing a foul from Chris Paul pushing Antetokounmpo in the air .
“A great piece by Jrue,” said Williams. “I have no other words for it.”
The game wasn’t quite over yet, as the slam gave Milwaukee the lead with 13.5 seconds to go 122-119, followed by an Antetokounmpo and 1 free throw.
The two-time MVP missed, as did seven of his eleven free throw attempts on Saturday, but Antetokounmpo knocked his own board back to Khris Middleton, who was fouled and pinned on another free throw to put the game out of reach for Phoenix.
Similar to Game 4, when the Suns of 17 turnovers and 17 allowed offensive rebounds were doomed, it was a turnover and an offensive rebound that stumbled them in Game 5 as well.
“That was a terrible miss,” said Suns center Deandre Ayton, who had lined up to secure the rebound and could not pick it up. “It was just a sporting game, you know; he left it behind because he knew his teammates were there. It was a bad shot.”
The question is whether the series has progressed to the point where the suns will remember the 2021 final as a missed opportunity for years to come.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Paul, who got back on his feet with 21 points in 9v15 shooting, 11 assists and only one turnover in Game 5. “We didn’t expect that. It’s difficult, the coach has said all year round: Everything we want is difficult on the other side of the line, and it doesn’t get any more difficult.
“So we have to regroup, learn from this game. But it’s over. We have to prepare for game 6. “
For the first time in all series – and only for the second time in the entire postseason after the Los Angeles Lakers lost the Suns 2-1 in the first round before Phoenix won nine straight playoff games – Game 6 is the same much of a must-win game for the Suns. Phoenix can either force a Game 7 and give themselves a chance at the first title in the franchise’s 53-year history, or deal with the disappointment of what could have been when the Bucks celebrate a championship on their home court.
“I like it,” said Ayton. “The tables are now turned. Now we are the desperate team.”
Comments are closed.