Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from grim Game 2 loss to Phoenix Suns

There is disappointment in the air after the Milwaukee Bucks dropped yet another game to the Phoenix Suns in these NBA Finals.

Despite coming out aggressive and building up a lead early, the Bucks could not sustain their initial play on either end of the court. Due to Milwaukee’s sluggish play, Phoenix grabbed a lead early in the second quarter and never looked back as they blew this game open to a 15-point lead at its apex and would secure the 118-108 victory in the end.

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Finding themselves trailing 0-2 in the series, several players in the locker room need to look themselves in the mirror and question their heart.

This series has largely been about effort throughout the first two games, and it is apparently clear that the Suns have more determination, hustle, intensity, grit, and every other attribute imaginable to give them an advantage over this joyless Bucks team.

Without further ado, here are three takeaways from a crushing Game 2 loss to Phoenix before the NBA Finals shift to Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Bucks feel the heat from the perimeter in ugly Game 2 loss to Phoenix Suns

Defending the 3-point line consistently has been the ultimate Achilles heel for the Bucks during the Mike Budenholzer era, and it showed in Game 2.

After a lackluster shooting night in Game 1, the Suns immediately bounced back from the opening tip and went scorched earth in the first quarter. Although the Bucks led by three after the first 12 minutes, blood was in the water as the Suns had cashed in eight 3-pointers during the period, and there was seemingly no way to slow them down.

Indeed, the rest of the matchup followed in a similar fashion as Phoenix would continue to shoot the lights out and finish 20-of-40 from behind the arc in total. Of course, it was a franchise playoff record for the Suns, as opposing teams love notching those record-breaking numbers against the Bucks. Devin Booker paved the way as he went wild and shot an impressive 7-of-12 from deep en route to a 31 point performance. Chris Paul, Jae Crowder, and Mikal Bridges combined to hit nine 3-pointers as well, ensuring that nearly every option on the floor would give them a lethal shooter from range.

To their credit, the Suns hit several tough shots where the defense from the Bucks could not have been played any better. You have to tip your hat to those shots on occasion, but it should not be ignored that many of their looks were lightly contested, if at all. This is where that hustle comes into play, and the Bucks looked deflated on several possessions, opting to not even attempt to get a hand up and contest the shot.

Once the Suns caught the hot hand, it seemed like there was no slowing them down. Bucks fans certainly have Deja Vu after yet another playoff loss highlighted by an onslaught of shots from deep, and this one will undeniably sting for the next few days.

Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday are no-shows for the Milwaukee Bucks during Game 2 loss to Phoenix Suns

With a chance to tie up the series and steal homecourt advantage, the Bucks needed a big night from their supporting cast, but what they got was simply laughable.

Khris Middleton looked disinterested from the jump and pulled another famous disappearing act as he finished with 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting, including 1-of-6 from deep. Although these Houdini-esque performances have become typical from Middleton, that does not make them any easier to stomach, particularly with the team playing on the biggest stage possible in the NBA Finals. The typical second leading scorer on a team in the NBA Finals came out and scored 11 points with his team desperately needing to steal this game on the road, and he needs to take on the lion’s share of the criticism for his horrific effort.

However, he will not be alone in that regard as Jrue Holiday followed suit by delivering yet another lifeless performance himself. The guard would finish with 17 points, but it was a grueling shooting night as he would go 7-of-21 from the floor, including 1-of-3 from distance. To give Holiday some deserved credit, albeit it will be held to a minimum, he did notch two blocks and two steals during his time on the floor, showing signs of life on the defensive end. Still, a 33.3 percent shooting night will not get the job done in a Finals game. He started off so promising by attacking the rim early, but then he seemingly lost confidence and missed several point-blank opportunities.

As unrealistic as it might seem, it is not too far-fetched to say that swingman Pat Connaughton was Milwaukee’s second best player in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Coming off the bench, the guard would score 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, which included knocking down four 3-pointers. He was hustling from start to finish across his 33 minutes played, providing some quality minutes in the second unit, but it ultimately did not matter in the end.

It was a devastating effort from Milwaukee’s supporting cast, particularly as they let down their man running the show after he clocked in a historically great performance.

The Milwaukee Bucks fall short in Game 2 despite a herculean effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo

A little over a week ago there were concerns that Giannis Antetokounmpo might miss the entirety of next season after a scary fall in Game 4 of the Conference Finals.

However, miraculously avoiding any significant damage, this pure freak of nature has played in both games of the NBA Finals thus far, and he left it all on the line in Game 2. Antetokounmpo would deliver a phenomenal performance by scoring 42 points overall, shooting 15-of-22 from the floor and 11-of-18 from the charity stripe. He was in attack mode all night, getting good looks close to the basket, making several mid-range jumpers, and taking a few too many ill-advised triples, although he made one.

This scoring barrage was propelled by a dominant third quarter for the Greek Freek where he clocked in 20 points, impressively the single most by a player in Finals during the last 25 seasons. Understanding that he was the team’s only source of consistent offense for much of the game, he took it upon himself to try and will his team back into the game. This one-man wrecking crew got mighty close on numerous occasions as he kept chipping away at Phoenix’s lead.

Anteotkounmpo gave it everything he had, noticeably hobbling on several occasions as he battled through any pain that still might be stemming from that knee. There was a brief instance where he abruptly checked out the game and many feared the worst, but it was soon reported that it was just a cramp, and he would return. That cramp came with horrible timing as the Bucks had cut the deficit to five and appeared to have the momentum swinging in their favor, but the rest of the team could not hold their own without Antetokounmpo and the Suns took control once more.

Antetokounmpo’s historically great performance will die in vain as the supporting cast failed to back him up, and the Bucks would lose the contest. Still, coming off that nasty knee injury, hats off to Giannis for stepping up to the plate.

Now trailing 0-2 in this best of seven, the Bucks will have to play nearly flawless basketball the rest of the way to claw their way back into this series. Be sure to catch Game 3 back in Milwaukee at 7:00 p.m. CST Sunday night on ABC.