Milwaukee simply could not defend Devin Booker and Chris Paul in pick-and-roll sets

The whole story of Game 1’s victory for the Phoenix Suns can be told by watching clips of Devin Booker and Chris Paul running high pick-and-roll sets with Jae Crowder, DeAndre Ayton and Mikal Bridges setting screens. 

All the time, Booker or Paul would call for a screen, the Bucks would switch defenders and Phoenix got the matchup they wanted virtually every single time they had the ball on offense. Playing one-on-one with Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis on one of the Suns guards is simply not going to work and this was shown in Game 1. 

Maybe I am the crazy one, but how many times do the Bucks have to watch the same thing happen with Chris Paul cooking one of their defenders in isolation before they make an adjustment and double the ball-handler on a screen. Yes, this may leave an open man, but the Bucks might as well forfeit 40+ points a night in this series if they are going to allow Lopez and Portis to guard Chris Paul and Devin Booker alone. 

It is one thing if Paul or Booker go off and have a fantastic individual performance, but they simply cannot let both of them get into their groove and go off offensively! Chris Paul has now scored 63 points on 24-34 shooting over his last six quarters of play in these playoffs and what both he and Booker did together in the third quarter against Milwaukee’s poor defense was laughable. 

Devin Booker and Chris Paul scored or assisted on 29 of the Suns 35 total points in the third quarter and for the game, Paul scored or assisted on a total of 54 points, the third most by a player in his NBA Finals debut trailing just Allen Iverson (61 points, 2001) and Michael Jordan (60 points, 1991). 

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Chris Paul also became the third player age-36 or older to have a 30+ point game in the NBA Finals, joining the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six times) and Tim Duncan (2013). What Paul and Booker have achieved in these playoffs is quite remarkable and nobody has been able to stop them yet.

These two have been making a living off of pick-and-roll sets and until the Bucks prove they can stop them, Phoenix is going to keep making them pay on switches. However, even if Milwaukee solves the puzzle defensively, the Suns still have DeAndre Ayton who has been a beast. 

Ayton became the first player with 15 points and 15 rebounds in his Finals debut since Tim Duncan in 1999 and he joined the great Lew Alcindor, a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as the only other player to have 20 points, 15 rebounds and shoot 70% in his NBA Finals debut. 

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The 2018 1st overall pick is getting better and better every time he steps out on the court and quite honestly, is earning himself the recognition of being one of the best centers in the league right now. The contributions DeAndre Ayton has given the Suns have been huge and he is part of the reason their pick-and-roll sets have been so deadly. 

For the Bucks, it is almost like picking their poison because they can either help on Paul and Booker on the perimeter, leaving Ayton open for a lob/dunk, or they can play isolation-ball on the Suns guards, allowing them to get to their spots and get the shots they want with the matchups they want. 

Luckily for me, I am not the guy that has to make these decisions, but the Milwaukee Bucks really have their work cut out for them defensively if they are to stop the Phoenix Suns. Game 1 should be a huge wakeup call not just for the Bucks players, but their coaching staff as well because if they do not make the right adjustment going into Game 2 on Thursday, then they will find themselves in an 0-2 hole heading to Milwaukee.