Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker scored 31 points to lead his team’s second win against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals. Suns defeated the Bucks 118-108 to go 2-0 in the series. 

Booker, Chris Paul (23 points) and Mikal Bridges (27 points) dominated the game on Thursday at Phoenix. Devin Booker and Chris Paul have combined to score 113 points through the first two games of the Finals, which is the most by a starting backcourt in the same period since first tracked in 1971.

Milwaukee star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 42 points and added 12 rebounds, but the Bucks could not offer enough support to level the series.

“It’s a 0-0 mindset for us,” Booker said. “It’s a game-seven mentality for us. Every game is a game seven for us. It gets rowdy up there but we’ll be ready for it.”

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The Suns seek their first NBA crown while the Bucks are trying to capture their first title in 50 years.

“We’ve got to just keep making it tough on them,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We’ve got to look at the film and keep working to get better against this group.”

Bahamas big man Deandre Ayton added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns while Jae Crowder had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix, but the surprise effort came from Bridges, who hit 8-of-15 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

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“We need that,” Booker said. “It takes a lot of pressure off everybody once we get it going on the offensive end.”

Phoenix outscored Milwaukee 15-4 over the final 4:40 of the second quarter to seize a 56-45 half-time lead.

The Suns, without a prior playoff loss after seizing a 10-point lead, let the Bucks shoot only 35.8% in the first half.

Antetokounmpo scored 20 points in the third quarter, the most by any player in an NBA Finals quarter in 25 years, but the Suns still led 88-78 entering the fourth quarter.

The Bucks closed within 93-88, but an Ayton layup and back-to-back 3-pointers by Booker gave the Suns a 101-88 edge with 7:18 remaining.

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Milwaukee answered with a 7-0 run, Jrue Holiday scoring five in the spurt, to pull the Bucks within 103-97 with 5:15 to play.

Paul responded with a 3-pointer and assisted on a Bridges’ layup, boosting the Suns’ lead to 108-97, and the Bucks came no closer than eight points after that.

“We had a 10-point lead and we just wanted to hold that,” Booker said. “We knew they would come out desperate. We defended well and made some shots at the end.”

The Suns lost swingman Torrey Craig to a right leg injury at the end of the third quarter just a day after losing Croatian forward Dario Saric with a torn right knee ligament.

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Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo scared the Bucks when he fell to the court in the second and third quarters but he rose and continued each time. He missed two games with a hyperextended left knee and was only approved to play in the opener just before tip-off.

The Bucks, who surrendered 25 points at the free-throw line in the opener, went almost 16 minutes before being whistled for their first foul in game two.

Milwaukee drove inside repeatedly, outscoring the Suns 20-0 in the paint, while Phoenix went 8-of-14 from 3-point range in the first quarter that ended with the Bucks up 29-26. The Suns matched their first-game total of 11 3-pointers by halftime.