Ayton, Suns down 3-2 to the Bucks

For the first time this postseason, Bahamian professional basketball player DeAndre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns are on the brink of elimination as the Milwaukee Bucks turned them back, 123-119, in game five of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals at the Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday night.

It was the first time that the away team won a game in the best-of-seven series.

Ayton managed to come away with a double-double, posting 20 points and 10 boards in 44 minutes on the floor. He finished the night shooting 7-for-12 from the field, 58.3 percent, and he finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

The Suns blew a 16-point lead early in the game after leading 32-16 in the first quarter. They led 37-21 after that quarter, but trailed at the half. The Bahamian got off to a great start in the opening quarter, scoring eight points.

Although they blew the early lead, the Suns were still in the game late in the fourth quarter, down 117-107, with 3:25 left in the game. With a chance of taking the lead with 16.7 seconds left in the game, the Suns’ Devin Booker turned the ball over and the Bucks went on a fastbreak and scored to take a 122-119 lead on a Giannis Antetokounmpo’s alley-oop slam dunk. Khris Middleton hit one of two free shots with 9.8 seconds left to seal the win.

Booker finished with a game-high 40 points while Antetokounmpo came away with 32 points.

Ayton spoke about what was the difference in the game.

“It felt a little on and off,” Ayton said. “We were playing hard in some spurts and when it got to a point where we were still in this, we kind of picked it back up, but games like this you can’t really take no plays off.”

With Booker sitting on the bench to start the second quarter, the Bucks took full advantage, opening the quarter with a 21-5 scoring run to tie the game at 42.

Ayton spoke about a key offensive board the Bucks were able to corral late in the game.

“That was a horrible miss. It was just an athletic play, you know, he tipped it 

behind him knowing that his teammates are there. It was a bad miss,” Ayton said.

The Bucks led 64-61 heading into the intermission. Ayton had 12 points and four boards at the half.

It was a tough second half for the Suns as they never held the lead.

Both teams were close in the statistics. The Bucks finished the game shooting 57.5 percent while the Suns shot 55.2 percent. The biggest difference in the stats came in the fastbreak points category. The Suns had 12 fast break points while the Bucks had 21 fastbreak points.

The Suns will have to do something tomorrow night that they haven’t done all series – win a game at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It will be a critical game for the Suns, as they look to force a game seven.

The center spoke about what it will take for them to win game six.

“Everything. Just being relentless, man. You can’t really shy away from what really got us here, we just have to stay consistent. We just have to regroup and just make sure we key in on togetherness when things don’t go our way,” Ayton said. “Tables are turned now. Now, we’re the desperate team. We had our chances of being up and trying to finish the job, now we’re in the same position that they were in. They’re up and now we got to go get it. That’s why it’s a little bit more fun.”

Game six will tip off at 9 o’clock on ABC tomorrow night.

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