Suns sharing the fun, take 2-0 Finals lead

PHOENIX (AP) — The ball went from Chris Paul to Devin Booker and didn’t stop moving until Deandre Ayton scored after every Suns player had touched it.

The 10-pass sequence was the prettiest play of the NBA Finals and the kind the one-man show Bucks couldn’t dream of.

“We actually talked about that play right after the game, me and Mikal (Bridges), and he was like, ‘I think that was the most pumped I’ve ever been after a play,’” Booker said. “And I was like, me too.”

Imagine the feeling if his team gets two more wins.

Booker scored 31 points, Paul had 23 and the Suns beat Milwaukee 118-108 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 series lead.

The Suns have never been closer to an NBA title. Not bad for a team whose coach told them earlier this season had the league’s sorriest starting unit, forcing the players to figure things out.

“We did and we’re going to keep it going,” Paul said.

Booker made seven 3-pointers and the Suns went 20 for 40 behind the arc. Bridges scored 27 points, and Paul finished with eight assists.

The Suns surged ahead late in the first half, withstood Giannis Antetokounmpo’s all-around effort to bring the Bucks back, and walked off winners again as fans swung orange rally towels all around them.

Antetokounmpo had 42 points and 12 rebounds in his second game back from hyperextended left knee.

The Suns never even had a lead in the NBA Finals until their 118-105 victory in Game 1. They dropped the first two games in both 1976 and 1993, their only other appearances, and didn’t win more than two games in either series.

They’ve already got two this time and will go after a third Sunday in Milwaukee, which will host the NBA Finals for the first time since 1974.

“We know what the deal is,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to go back home and protect home.”

Jrue Holiday played more aggressively but didn’t shoot a whole lot better than in Game 1, scoring 17 points.