(Reuters) – The Phoenix Suns took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals by beating Milwaukee 118-108 on Thursday, overcoming a 42-point effort from the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Devin Booker led the way for Phoenix with 31 points, Mikal Bridges tallied 27, and Chris Paul contributed 23 to leave the Suns two wins away from their first championship.
Antetokounmpo was outstanding throughout, dominating in the paint and on the glass, but received little help from his supporting cast as the team shot a miserable nine-of-31 from three-point range.
Milwaukee started strong, with Antetokounmpo looking determined to avenge their convincing Game One defeat, but the Suns offence caught fire in the second quarter, outscoring the Bucks 30-16 to take a 56-45 lead into halftime.
Antetokounmpo continued to fight in the second half, at one point reeling off 13 straight points before the Bucks cut the deficit to five points in the fourth quarter on an alley-opp to Brook Lopez.
But the Suns, who connected on 20 three-pointers, pushed the tempo and played stout defence to deliver the win before a rocking crowd at Phoenix Suns Arena.
Not everything went the Suns way though.
For the second straight game they lost a valuable role player when Torrey Craig suffered a right knee injury after colliding with a driving Antetokounmpo in the final minute of the third quarter.
The Suns lost backup forward Dario Saric in Game One when he tore his right anterior cruciate ligament.
The best-of-seven series moves to Milwaukee for Game Three on Sunday.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
