What Happened Last Night: NBA Finals Game 4
The Milwaukee Bucks tied the series at two a piece on their homecourt. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
When all the chips were down and a defining moment in the legacies of these teams and players, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo who took the moment by storm as his game-clinching block sealed a huge win for the Milwaukee Bucks as they avoided going down 3-1 in the NBA Finals.
In what was a huge game for both teams, the Phoenix Suns, led by Chris Paul and Devin Booker, took the first two games at home as they set a goal here to steal one of these games on the road.
Now that both teams have taken care of business on their home floors, Game 5 is back in PHX Arena to see who will take the deciding lead in this series.
Some had the Suns as clear favorites heading into the series as the Bucks star forwards health was in question but Giannis has looked great so far and shown no sign of slowing down.
As for the game, we saw another big outing for Kris Middleton as he dropped 40points to help give the Bucks the win. Leading the team in scoring, he was crucial down the stretch as his offensive output kept his team in the game. He also made a huge layup with 27.2 seconds left in the game after Giannis’s huge block to seal the game in their favor.
Antetokounmpo played his role as the anchor of the team by having a near triple-double with a stat line of 26 points, 14rebounds and eight assists. When he plays like that in the middle, this Bucks team is going to be a hard out in these final few games as he can control the paint when he wants to on both ends, as we saw at the end of this game.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Suns played pretty well considering most of their big-time guys didn’t shoot the ball very well having only lost by six points with the final score being 109-103. Their leader on the floor, Chris Paul, didn’t play particularly well having only ten points and seven assists while also accumulating five turnovers, one being a costly one at the end of the game as he fell down which led to the Middleton buck to seal the deal.
Middleton and Antetokoumpo embrace after the former’s 40 point performance. (via NBA.com )
Devin Booker showed out on the offensive end as he led all scorers with 42, as it didn’t come with negatives as he had five personal fouls and potentially could have fouled out with a couple of questionable no calls to keep him in the game.
Deandre Ayton, who has been huge throughout the entire playoff run, tallied just six points, being the only starter to log thirty minutes with less than ten points.
As we look towards Saturday’s Game 5 both teams will need to come out with a sense of urgency if they want to be crowned champion at the end of this series. We will see who wants it more. Whether it be the up-and-coming Bucks, who have been knocking at the door for a while, or whether it be the young Suns team who has a seasoned veteran looking to finally capture his first Larry O’Brien trophy that has eluded him for so long will be decided very soon.