Giannis Antetokounmpo finally got the help that the media and Bucks fans have been looking for all series.
Khris Middleton’s 40-point performance would carry the Bucks to a 109-103 victory in Wednesday’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
He’d score 10 of Milwaukee’s final 12 points hitting a barrage of pullup jumpers from mid-range to give them a 4-point lead with just 27.2 seconds remaining. Middleton and Jrue Holiday would ice the game with six-straight made free throws.
Middleton ended Game 4 with 40 points, six rebounds, and four assists for the Bucks. Giannis added 26 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists including a big-time block on Phoenix’s Deandre Ayton down the final stretch.
The scoring didn’t stop there as the Bucks weren’t the only ones given a 40-plus point performance.
Devin Booker’s 42 points on 17-for-28 shooting from the field were wasted by the Suns in the final three minutes of the game.
Milwaukee’s defensive assignment for Booker went from PJ Tucker to Jrue Holiday and even Pat Connaughton at times, but it didn’t matter.
The 24-year-old not only doubled his 10-point scoring output from Game 3 in the first half, but he did it without a made three.
He would then tie Allen Iverson for the second-most points scored through the first three-quarters of an NBA Finals in the last 25 years with 38, according to ESPN.
Booker scorched the Bucks so bad that Milwaukee fans erupted when he picked up his fifth foul with just under 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
However, the refs would swallow their whistle in the final minutes of the game on calls that would’ve given Booker his sixth foul of the night. Instead, he was allowed to continue play.
Had the Suns won the game, it would’ve been something talked about for a long time. Luckily for the Bucks, Booker went cold in the final two minutes scoring just two points as the Suns fell short.
Throughout the season, the Sun won close games through their ability to make free throws and not turn the ball over. On Wednesday, that wasn’t the case as the Suns had 17 total turnovers in the loss.
Chris Paul led the way with five turnovers giving him a total of 15 over the last three games, the most over a three-game stretch in the playoffs since 2012, according to ESPN.
Paul had 10 points for the Suns and Jae Crowder added 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
The Suns and Bucks will now head to Phoenix for the most crucial game of the series on Saturday for Game 5.
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