Milwaukee Beats Phoenix, Takes 3-2 NBA Finals Lead
The Milwaukee Bucks took control of the NBA Finals with a 123-119 victory against hosts Phoenix Suns in Game 5, taking a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series.
Milwaukee are now one win away from clinching its first NBA championship in 50 years, while Phoenix remain two wins away from their first title in the team’s 53-year existence.
Phoenix initially looked like a completely different team than the one that just lost two road games, making a fast start in front of a roaring crowd leading 37-21 after the first quarter.
But the Bucks responded in stellar fashion in the second quarter. Powered by Jrue Holiday, they scored 43 points to claw back and take a 64-61 lead into the half.
The Bucks did not take their foot off the gas and it was two-time league MVP Antetokounmpo who overcame his sluggish start to put Milwaukee ahead 100-90 going into what proved to be a wild fourth quarter.
The Suns were trailing by a point with 20 seconds left when Milwaukee guard Holiday ripped the ball from Devin Booker’s hands and sent an alley-oop pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo for a dunk that sealed the Bucks’ win.
Antetokounmpo recorded 32 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the game.
“One more to go. One more to go,” Antetokounmpo said during a televised on-court interview. “We’ve got to keep playing good basketball.”
Booker scored a game-high 40 points for a Suns team that led by 16 points after the first quarter before the Bucks clawed their way back and withstood a late Phoenix charge.
Teams that win Game Five of an NBA finals that was tied 2-2 have gone on to win 72% of the time. The Bucks host Game Six on Tuesday. A deciding seventh game, if necessary, would be in Phoenix on Thursday.
Chidi Nwoke/Reuters/NBA.
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