MILWAUKEE (AP)
— Giannis Antetokounmpo pointed to a pair of scratches, one on his
forehead and the other on his cheek.
Those NBA
Finals battle scars are proof, he figures, that the frustrated
Phoenix Suns are indeed fouling him.
“So they’re
making my pretty face ugly,” Antetokounmpo said.
The Suns may be
hacking and whacking him, but they sure aren’t stopping the
Milwaukee Bucks star.
Coming off two
straight 40-point performances, Antetokounmpo will try to help the
Bucks even the series in Game 4 on Wednesday.
And whether
playing with pain in his knee or shaking off hits to his face, the
Suns know Antetokounmpo is going to keep attacking them.
“He’s coming
full speed every play, like a running back coming downhill,” point
guard Chris Paul said.
Antetokounmpo
had 41 points and 13 rebounds in the Bucks’ 120-100 victory in Game
3. That followed his 42 points and 12 rebounds in Game 2,
making him just the sixth player with consecutive 40-point games in the
NBA Finals.
The Suns have
already faced LeBron James and Nikola Jokic during this run to
their first NBA Finals since 1993, so they’ve had to figure out
ways to overcome MVP players.
But
Antetokounmpo, with his end-to-end bursts that seem to take just
two or three dribbles, is a different type of challenge. Paul said
Suns coach Monty Williams’ instructions are just to try to get in
the 6-foot-11 forward’s way, but it’s difficult to give too much
attention because the Bucks have shooters such as Khris Middleton,
Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez set up around the perimeter.
Paul said the
Suns will just stick with their game plan.
“We’re going to
keep trying to build a wall,” he said.
Antetokounmpo
is used to that.
He recalls it
being about two years ago when teams started to employ that
defensive strategy of packing multiple players in his path to the
basket.
Antetokounmpo
still doesn’t enjoy playing against it — “I’m not going to lie; I
hate it,” he said — but he’s come to look at it as a compliment,
adding that it’s “funny that there’s a defense out there called the
Giannis Wall.”
Most
importantly for the Bucks, he’s learned how to beat it.
Antetokounmpo believes he was already a good passer before teams
started using the wall and he’s willing to move the ball to open
players when they do. He had six assists in Game 3.
“It’s kind of
hard, because you want to be effective, you want to get downhill,
you want to do everything, but now you also — you take it personal
also,” Antetokounmpo said.
“There’s a team
that’s building the wall of three people and two guys behind and
trying to stop you. Now you have to not take it personal and make
the right play, find the right guy.”
Antetokounmpo
shot 17 free throws in Game 3, which Williams noted afterward was
one more than the entire Suns team. Asked Tuesday why he chose to
complain about it, one of NBA’s most polite people suddenly turned
testy.
“They had one
player with 17 free throws; we had 16,” Williams said. “That’s not
complaining. That’s stating facts.”
But Williams
knew from watching the film that the Suns’ problems Sunday started
way before any fouls. When Phoenix missed its first shot,
Antetokounmpo grabbed the rebound and pushed the ball up the court.
The Suns paid too much attention to him and lost track of Holiday,
who drifted alone into the corner to take the two-time MVP’s pass
for an open 3-pointer.
“It’s a hard
truth that you have to do both. You have to be able to show a wall,
but also have the integrity of your defense intact on the other
side,” Williams said.
Antetokounmpo,
two shy of Michael Jordan’s record for consecutive 40-point games
in the NBA Finals, could be even better in Game 4. The schedule has
had the teams play just once in five days, giving him plenty of
time to rest his injured left knee that forced him to miss two
games in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Suns hope
Devin Booker will also be better after his 3-for-14 shooting in
Game 3. He averaged 29 points in the first two games.
“He’s a great
player, but he’s human, also,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
“But I think we’re expecting we’re going to have to be even better
on him.”