Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges were excellent

Once again, Chris Paul and Devin Booker were fantastic in Game 2 of this NBA Finals series and were a big reason why the Suns were able to win again. With Paul scoring 23 points on 10-20 shooting and Booker scoring 31 points on 7-12 3PT, the Suns backcourt duo have scored a total of 113 points through the first two games of this NBA Finals series, which is a new NBA Finals record. 

The Suns’ backcourt has been fantastic to this point, but Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges were excellent in playing their roles during Game 2. Crowder scored 11 points (3-5 3PT), but his 10 rebounds on the defensive-end of the court were huge in limiting the Bucks’ second-chance opportunities. He may only be 6’6”, but Crowder is strong on the interior and outperformed Milwaukee’s big men on the glass. 

Mikal Bridges had arguably the best game of his young career in Game 2 as he scored a playoff career-high 27 points on 8-15 shooting, including 3 big three-point shots. Bridges also had 7 rebounds, but he went 8-8 from the free-throw line, which was huge for the Suns. 

Free-throws were a big part of why the Suns won Game 1 of this series, as they went 25-26 from the free-throw line in that game, and while they only shot 14 shots from the “charity stripe” in Game 2, they still made 12 of them. Phoenix has converted from the free-throw line at a high rate against the Bucks, which is why they find themselves ahead in this series. 

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Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges stepping up and playing their roles to perfection in Game 2 was key, especially since Milwaukee, specifically Giannis Antetokounmpo, went on a run late in the game to try and keep his team alive. 

The biggest reason why Crowder and Bridges stepping up mattered so much was because it proved a point that the Phoenix Suns can literally get production from any of their five starters. This does not seem to be the case with Milwaukee right now as they are really only getting production from Giannis, Middleton and Holiday. 

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Both Brook Lopez and P.J. Tucker have really been non-factors to this point in this series, which is why the Suns have the edge. We seem to know what to expect from Devin Booker, Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton night-in and night-out, but having that added bonus of knowing that Crowder and Bridges are going to play their roles perfectly gives the Suns a lot of stability. 

When these two guys have great games for Phoenix like they did in Game 2, it makes this Suns team awfully hard to beat and if they continue to play lights-out in this series, the Suns will win their first championship in franchise history.