Devin Booker, despite being burdened with foul trouble, was too much for the Bucks to contain Wednesday night, but his backcourt partner in crime, Chris Paul, fell to pieces. And now the NBA Finals series between Phoenix and Milwaukee is tied at 2.
Booker scored 42 points and looked as if he would carry the Suns to the precipice of their first NBA championship. But in the wild final minutes, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo rallied the Bucks to a 109-103 victory in Game 4 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Paul committed his fourth turnover with 30 seconds left, literally falling to the court and losing the ball. That led to a Middleton fastbreak layup that punctuated Milwaukee’s comeback from a nine-point deficit in the final period.
Vying for his first title, Paul was the goat, scoring just 10 points on 5-for-13 shooting, with five turnovers. The Suns also couldn���t overcome Booker’s foul trouble. Phoenix committed 17 turnovers, but were ahead for most of the contest and took a 85-76 lead into the fourth quarter.
“The turnovers crushed us,’’ Suns coach Monty Williams said. “This is not our normal. We’re not going to have that many turnovers from our starting group.”
Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday hounded Paul from mid-court and made him look 36.
“It was me,” Paul said. “It was bad decision making. That time we were down two and I tried to cross over right there, slipped, turned it over. I had some bad passes in the first half. They got a significant amount more shots than us, so for me I got to take care of the ball.’’
Middleton became the Bucks’ hero, scoring 40 points, including eight straight in the final two minutes. His go-ahead jumper with 1:20 left put the Bucks in the lead for good.
Antetokounmpo looked more passive than in the prior two games, in which he scored 42 and 41 points, but he still finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists. And most importantly, Antetokounmpo made the key defensive play with just over a minute left, racing back to the rim and skying to the roof to block an alley-oop dunk attempt by Suns center Deandre Ayton, off a lob from Booker.
“What was going through my head, honestly, was shock and awe,’’ Bucks’ Pat Connaughton said. “In my opinion it was the best block of all time.’’
As Paul and Booker sputtered, Antetokounmpo and Middleton finished with flair, as they have so many times in their long-running partnership.
“We’ve closed so many games together, lost games, but closing this together means a lot,’’ Antetokounmpo said. “But we can’t be satisfied. But it felt good doing that with him down the stretch. It’s the guy I want to be aligned with.’’
“Him and Giannis are the finishers and they took us home tonight,’’ Holiday said.
Coming off his worst playoff performance, in scoring 10 points in the Game 3 loss, Booker put forth an spectacular outing despite being in foul trouble due to the whistle-happy referees. But Booker failed to put the Suns on the cusp of the championship.
With the series now even, the Suns and Bucks will battle again in Game 5 on Saturday when the Finals switches to “The Valley of The Sun.”
“We’re two good teams and we’re 2-2,’’ Williams said.
Booker picked up a bogus fifth foul with 10:40 left on a clean box-out of PJ Tucker. He didn’t come back until 5:30 left, and by then he had lost his mojo. Booker scored 20 points in the first half and added another 16 in the third quarter before the fourth-quarter fizzle.
“I was still in rhythm,’’ Booker said. It’s a mindset more than anything. I was still there.’’
On a makeup call soon after Booker returned, he looked to have intentionally fouled Jrue Holiday on a drive, but the referees swallowed the whistle rather than ejecting the Suns superstar. Holiday still got the pass off to Antetokounmpo for the layup.
“I don’t know, man, I don’t know, I don’t know,’’ Holiday said of the Booker non-call.
Booker was on fire in the second quarter, scoring 10 points in the final six minutes of the first half in a spectacular frenzy. Booker started the roll with a 3-pointer, then hit two straight lefty floaters. Then he banged in a right-elbow mid-range jumper, showing every part of his arsenal that may soon to be display at the Tokyo Olympics.
Middleton soon may be on Booker’s side in Tokyo. But first, Middleton and Booker are battling for the NBA title and it’s all up for grabs.
“This is a tough one but we got to bounce back,’’ Paul said. “That’s why we fought all season to get home court.’’