The Bucks clinched a spot in the 2021 NBA Finals with a 120-100 win over the Suns in Milwaukee on Sunday night, rebounding back from a pair of losses in Phoenix where they appeared overpowered. In Game 3, the Suns went cold from three-point range (apart from Jae Crowder’s 6-of-7 night) and Devin Booker scored only 10 points, while Milwaukee saw Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton finally get it going offensively, allowing Giannis Antetokounmpo to put up another monstrous 41-point performance.
Deandre Ayton’s foul problems after dominating the first half of the game was a major factor in the Suns’ woes. Ayton scored 12 points in the first quarter to help Phoenix take a three-point lead into the second, but he was called for his fourth foul early in the third quarter and sat the rest of the game. After returning to start the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks completely dominated offensively, and Ayton swiftly added a fifth foul and didn’t play another minute.
There were a few 50/50 calls on Ayton, but the fourth was simply a mental error in grabbing Giannis on a second-chance opportunity when, given the circumstances, he should have just let him go for a layup. Due to Ayton’s absence, there were a lot of Frank Kaminsky minutes, which went horribly wrong, and small-ball combinations that scored more points but had no hope of controlling the Bucks, particularly Giannis. There were a few calls that the Suns may have argued over, but not enough to make a difference in the game.
That didn’t stop Monty Williams from pointing out that Giannis made more free throws (17) than the Suns as a team (16) — ironically, just seconds after he said he wouldn’t publicly criticize the officials.
In Game 3, there were a handful of 50/50 decisions that went Giannis’ way — most notably, when it appeared he collided with Jae Crowder as he attempted to post up and Crowder was called for a foul — but it was also a result of Giannis being as active as the entire Phoenix squad.
The Suns’ preference for the midrange jumper is an advantage in that it is a shot that most opponents are prepared to concede, but it is also a shot that rarely draws fouls. The Suns’ biggest problem was not getting to the rim, but Giannis was moving downhill the entire night. Furthermore, when Giannis gets downhill, the book on him is to foul him to force him to take free throws instead of layups and dunks, which the Suns did a lot of by willingly accepting a foul in exchange for stopping a layup — Giannis hit 13-of-17 from the line.
That doesn’t really matter to Williams, who knows a lot of these things but is still hoping to get a couple of those 50/50 calls to go in the direction of the Suns in Game 4. Still, there are far bigger things for the Suns to correct going into Game 4 than worrying about calls, most notably that if they’re doing what they need to and being more assertive and attacking, the whistles are likely to come.
