NBA Finals: Devin Booker Leads Phoenix Suns Past Milwaukee Bucks

PHOENIX, AZ — The more things change, the more they stay the same for members of the Phoenix Suns this postseason.

The age old adage proved fruitful again Thursday, as the hometown Suns captured another double-digit win over the Milwaukee Bucks, 118-108, taking a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

The Suns, behind 31 points from guard Devin Booker and a playoff career high 27 points from Mikal Bridges, did what they needed to do to overcome a herculean effort by Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 42 points, while pulling down a game high 12 rebounds in the loss.

All five Suns starters finished in double figures, with guard Chris Paul adding 23 points; Jae Crowder adding 11 points and Deandre Ayton scoring 10 points in the 10-point victory.

The Suns became the third team in NBA Finals history to hit 20 three-pointers in a game, joining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018 and the Golden State Warriors in 2019.

Bridges, who hit three of the Suns three-pointers Thursday, reiterated Thursday night that the team is ready to head to Milwaukee and keep doing the things that have allowed them to take a 2-0 lead, not letting the moment get too big for them.

"Got to treat it like it's Game 1. We talk about it in the locker room and our next game is the most important game," Bridges said. "That's in the regular season, that's in the playoffs, the Finals no matter what, our next game is our most important game.

"So just stay locked in and we know we did what we were supposed to do here, and it's not over and we got to just got to continue doing what we're doing and keep playing our way."

For Booker, taking part in his first-ever NBA postseason with this group of players has been a reward in and of itself.

The sixth-year guard said that games like Thursday's serve as a reminder why he feels lucky to play the game he loves on a daily basis.

"I'm excited honestly every day I wake up and get a chance to play in the in the NBA, the league that I've been watching since I was a kid," Booker said. "So, I try not to lose site of that. Fortunate, both of us are grateful to be in this situation. We don't want to take it for granted. So, it's an everyday thing for us."

Looking Forward

The Suns now make the 1,460-mile trek north toward Milwaukee for Sunday's Game 3, which will be held at Fiserv Forum.

The contest, which tips off at 5 p.m. Arizona time (8 p.m. Eastern), will be aired nationally on ABC.

For Suns head coach Monty Williams, Sunday's Game 3 provides a blank slate for the squad.

Williams told members of the media Thursday night that the team will enter Game 3 with the same mindset they've had in each of the team's 18 playoff games to date.

"We talked about it being a 0-0 series. That's our mentality. That's what we talked about this morning," Williams said. "We have to approach every game with a level of desperation and we can't look at the series numbers. But human nature forces you to do that, but our mentality is to play every game as if we're coming off of a loss.

"I think that's served us well throughout the playoffs. And we know that when we don't play with the force that is necessary to win, we're not as good as we can be."