Suns, Bucks ready for Game 5

PHOENIX (AP):

The Phoenix Suns had designs on coming home with a chance to win their first championship.

Khris Middleton’s shots and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s swat ended those thoughts.

Now an NBA Finals that seemed very much in the Suns’ control when they left Phoenix a week ago returns to Arizona as a toss-up.

The Milwaukee Bucks have taken the last two games to even things up, with Game 5 set for tonight.

“It’s two teams left in the league now playing for an NBA championship on the biggest stage,” Bucks forward Bobby Portis said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

The Suns never got more than two victories in their two previous NBA Finals appearances, but they were only a few minutes away on Wednesday in Game 4. Phoenix were ahead by nine points early in the fourth quarter and were still in the lead with two minutes 30 seconds to play.

But Middleton had 10 straight Milwaukee points down the stretch to finish with 40 and Antetokoumpo blocked Deandre Ayton at the rim after a lob pass to preserve the lead as the Bucks pulled out a 109-103 victory.

“Obviously that’s a tough, emotional loss for us, but we move on to the next one,” Suns All-Star Devin Booker said. “Next-game mentality for us.”

The Bucks overcame a 2-0 deficit in the second round against Brooklyn and now are trying to become the fifth club to do it in the NBA Finals. That last happened five years ago when Cleveland rallied past Golden State.

First, the Bucks have to show they can compete in Phoenix. The Suns won both their home games by double digits.

But Milwaukee did a much better job in the next two games making sure they didn’t let both of the Suns’ star guards get going at the same time. The Bucks forced Booker into a 3-for-14 night in Game 3 and when he bounced back big with 42 points in Game 4, Chris Paul had as many turnovers (5) as baskets while scoring just 10 points.

“Now we are coming back home. We’ve got to protect home court,” Paul said.