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Suns edge Bucks for early lead
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Chris Paul waited 16 years to get to the NBA Finals, bringing with him a team starving for its first championship.
The setting was entirely new. The performance was same ol鈥 Chris Paul.
鈥淛ust knew he鈥檚 ready,鈥 Phoenix forward Mikal Bridges said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 prepared his whole life for this moment and it shows out there on the court.鈥
Paul had 32 points and nine assists in an NBA Finals debut that was well worth the wait, Devin Booker scored 27 points and the Suns beat the returning Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks 118-105 on Tuesday night in Game 1.
Paul scored 16 points during a sensational third quarter that had Phoenix fans who waited 28 years to see the NBA Finals again screaming in delight.
It almost did in the third quarter, when Paul was 6 for 7 and made all three 3-pointers.
Finally playing for the title in his 16th season, the star point guard has the Suns in the NBA Finals for only the third time, and it sure looked as if they could make this ending different than the other two.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been building all season long for these moments,鈥 Paul said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep playing. This is just one game. We鈥檝e got to stay locked in.鈥
Deandre Ayton added 22 points and 19 rebounds to continue his breakout stretch of play in his first postseason.
Antetokounmpo had 20 points and 17 rebounds after missing two games with a hyperextended left knee. Khris Middleton scored 29 points, but the Bucks will have to play from behind again after dropping Game 1 for the third straight series.
鈥淲e know it鈥檚 not going to be easy. We know it鈥檚 going to be tough,鈥 Middleton said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 times where we鈥檙e going to be down in this series. But this series isn鈥檛 over. We鈥檙e down. We鈥檝e still got to keep competing and just playing.鈥
The series opener was the first NBA Finals game in Phoenix since Michael Jordan鈥檚 Chicago Bulls won their third straight championship here in Game 6 in 1993. The Suns, who came into the NBA with the Bucks in 1968, made their only other finals appearance in 1976. They hadn鈥檛 made the playoffs since 2010 and just two years ago were last in the Western Conference with a 19-63 record.
Milwaukee also is making its third finals appearance, having won the title in 1971 but not getting another chance since losing in 1974.
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