2021 NBA Finals: Phoenix Suns vs Milwaukee Bucks

now a GTD

Reporting with @Malika_Andrews: Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo has continued around-the-clock treatment on his left knee with hopes of becoming cleared to play Game 1 of the Finals vs. Phoenix tonight. There’s expected to be a game-time decision on his availability.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2021

i didn't get a chance to vote but i think i would've gone suns in 7. i want to lean towards the bucks here, it just kinda feels like their year to me despite how bumpy the road has been, but it's hard to figure what giannis effectiveness is going to be and the suns prob have enough scoring between cp3 and booker to overcome that. i also think if this goes to 7 that the bucks are gonna have a struggle trying to win in phoenix in that kind of environment, i don't trust what they're going to get on offense

that said, i did think the suns showed signs of mortality vs the clippers. booker was pretty inefficient, bridges was blah. the bucks have legit size to throw at ayton. they can also have games where they shoot the lights out, which will stretch the suns pretty thin. crowder turned into a pumpkin in the finals last year after a huge playoffs. i think this is a very winnable series for the bucks even if giannis isn't healthy -- maybe more so if he doesn't play at all, we'll have to see what he gives them once he steps on the floor

now a GTD
🐦[Reporting with @Malika_Andrews🕸: Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo has continued around-the-clock treatment on his left knee with hopes of becoming cleared to play Game 1 of the Finals vs. Phoenix tonight. There’s expected to be a game-time decision on his availability.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2021🕸]🐦

whenever a player improves from "doubtful" to "questionable" on game day they pretty always wind up playing so I'd be surprised if he weren't out there. that said, centering your offense around Giannis at 80% feels like a surefire way to lose this game, especially since they seem to play so much better w/ Jrue as the primary ball handler. he isn't gonna be able to take on 3 defenders like he normally does and the Suns will be fouling him and pressuring him to shoot which is how the Bucks get themselves into a hole early in games. and if he's clearly hobbled I doubt Bud will take him out either. of course if they leave him near the paint for lob plays & use him mostly for his defense and ability in transition I think it'll be fine

we'll know in the first ten minutes what he can do and that should certainly start to answer a lot of questions for the series.

Watching the warmups, he’s gonna play

there it is

Giannis is a go for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, source tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2021

I just drop knowledge on ILH all the time

thanks matt, what would we do without you

incredible that the suns arena's naming rights are currently not spoken for

coach bud pregame: "compete compete compete. have some fun, play some basketball"

can't argue with any of that

Bucks in 6 here we go baby

incredible that the suns arena's naming rights are currently not spoken for

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, July 6, 2021 9:00 PM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it will always be talking stick resort hotel casino arena to me

sick tip by bridges

i genuinely did not think the bucks would come out switching on defense. this isn't going to work.

last two possessions have ended with holiday on ayton and lopez on booker. that does not seem ideal.

yeah was thinking the same

this game is pretty sweet, excellent shot of some pheonix bros just now

this game is pretty sweet, excellent shot of some pheonix bros just now

― lag∞n, Tuesday, July 6, 2021 9:31 PM (three seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah it’s like a college game, it’s fuckin sick

suns in 4

suns fanbase has been a sleeping giant for years, with a good team those people will watch some basketball and absolutely rage

Can’t get over how surreal it is seeing Milwaukee here

Really good game so far

Also surreal to see Badgers hero Frank the Tank Kaminsky getting finals minutes

yeah this has been great xp

suns having good luck getting lopez to switch onto the guards

not frank kaminsky getting finals minutes

suns having good luck getting lopez to switch onto the guards

― circles, Tuesday, July 6, 2021 9:49 PM (thirty-six seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

you can see booker's eyes doing the looney tunes saucers thing when he has lopez in an iso

trying to remember the last finals where one of the teams was not a team i was at least kinda pissed at and i'm not sure it's ever happened before!

lol

It is a surprisingly low bullshit finals

Lol at the inevitable “Knuck if you Buck” music cue

first warriors/cavs showdown is a maybe and lebron was on a redemption tour but those cavs teams were hard to love and there was def some latent THIS guy again stuff w/r/t lebron xp

wow giannis blew bridges the fuck up

so it seems like giannis is doing everything you would expect except for those balls to the wall drives to the rim. i have no idea what that means but it's interesting.

liking him playing physical on face ups rather than trying to euro around everything

Bucks having no luck at the rim, playing pretty well otherwise. Suns are just a great shooting team and they haven’t missed an open look yet

xpost yeah agreed. when he gets it down low he can do some easy moves to score. the one time i recall where he was really loading up above the break he shot the 3 rather than driving. they might be worried about those long strides into traffic.

Good game so far. Suns' 2nd quarter lead withstood every little Bucks scoring spurt and I can't recall their ever being behind, even if they couldn't ever stretch it to double digits.

CP3 has been middling poor this game. PJ Tucker is not the solid wall he used to be. otoh, Suns defense looks really sharp.

Fwiw I didn’t think Lopez’s defense was that bad, he contested every shot pretty closely

yeah, he hasn't looked terrible, but paul and booker are hitting their shots

Ok that was pretty bad

these super hidef shallow depth of field shots theyve been mixing in kind of freak me out

yeah not sure i'm comfortable with the introduction of the golfcam (i first noticed it on golf telecasts)

they make me think i'm watchying 2k cutscenes every time

lol

Suns 13-13
Bucks 2-6

seems bad

also seems bad that every single player on the Suns is playing amazing while the Bucks are still waiting for Middleton to make an open shot or Holiday to do anything at all

the bros are back

suns are getting to all their favorite looks now

good lord kidd belongs in the hague

I never understood how his domestic-abusing ass ever got a coaching job to begin with

pic.twitter.com/pLn1TEfz3U

— Moneybagg Yo(hannes) 🇪🇷 (@AronYohannes) July 22, 2021

on cue

The crazy thing about that Kidd article is they have all those sources who say he’s a psychopath but also a basketball genius

Both things are probably true but that doesn’t make you a good HC - knowing what your players are good at, and more importantly, knowing what they are NOT good at, is key

apparently my Fitbit thought I was jogging for 3 hours

https://i.imgur.com/8ZYMXXg.jpg

ball is intense activity

lol it thinks I burned 5500 calories that day

frogbsanteteokounmpo