A packed house of just under 17,000 fans flooded Phoenix Suns Arena in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday night for Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns. Many may not have predicted this matchup at the beginning of the year, including yours truly, but both the Bucks and Suns are very deserving of being where they are because they were two of the two most consistent teams all season long.
The tale of Game 1 though was that Phoenix simply out executed Milwaukee in every single aspect of the game and the Bucks never really made any adjustments. The Suns took Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals 118-105 and have now won the first game of every single playoff series they have played in this year.
Throughout the day leading up to this first game of the series, there was a lot of talk about if Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo would play or not with his injured left knee. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Antetokounmpo suffered a hyperextended left knee and while he avoided any ligament or tendon damage, he still sat out the final two games of his team’s series against the Hawks.
About a half-an-hour before tip-off, the Bucks announced that Gianns would play and he was actually really good given that he is still injured and bothered by this knee injury. The 2x MVP had 20 points and 17 rebounds in his NBA Finals debut, but this was not enough to stop the red-hot Suns!
Chris Paul, Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton were all fantastic, but overall, there are really no bad things that can be said about any player on the Phoenix Suns in this game. Everybody played their role to perfection and the one word that comes to mind about the Suns’ performance in Game 1 is “flawless.”
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This team executed their gameplan on the Bucks flawlessly and Milwaukee simply did not have any answers. If the Suns continue to play like they did in Game 1, then this series could be over rather quickly than imagined.
It may have only been a 13-point win, but this victory sure seems greater than it appears to be. The Bucks have a lot of work to do in order to get back on the same level as the Suns and luckily for them, there is still a lot of basketball to be played in this series.
Anything can happen in the NBA Finals and just because you win one game does not mean you will win three more! With that said, let’s take a look at the three biggest takeaways from Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals and what these could mean for how the rest of the series plays out.
