The shots that will define the NBA Finals between the Suns and Bucks

After an unprecedented NBA season, the 2021 NBA Finals are finally upon us, and they include a bunch of fresh faces. The combined rosters of the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns include only one player who has played in the Finals before: Jae Crowder, who boasts a whopping six games of Finals experience with the Miami Heat a year ago.

There isn’t a single player on either team who has won an NBA championship ring, but both squads are led by great players ready to make huge shots on the NBA’s biggest stage.

Phoenix Suns

Chris Paul

Chris Paul, one of the craftiest players of the 21st century, is making his Finals debut in his 16th season. He is one of the most gifted off-the-dribble shooters on the planet, and his ability to snake through defences, find his own shooting space and knock down self-created jumpers is a huge part of his game and the Suns’ offense.

Paul’s signature shot is his off-the-dribble elbow jumper. It’s both common and freakishly elite. He’s been doing it for years, and he’ll lean on it a lot in this series. Also, no point guard in the history of the game can match Paul’s ability to turn pick-and-roll plays into midrange buckets.

Paul shot 51.6% from midrange this season, tied for the third highest by any player over the past 25 seasons. He is one of the smallest rotation players in the league, which makes his midrange numbers even more impressive.

Devin Booker

Devin Booker is the league’s youngest midrange savant. While many of his contemporaries heed the Moreyball shot-selection doctrine of 3s and layups, Booker is out here playing an antiquated midrange harpsichord, defying that analytical dogma and doing so in beautiful ways.

One reason that Booker draws comparisons to Kobe Bryant is his ability to break down defenders and hit jumpers in their faces. It’s gorgeous to watch, but it’s also a huge part of his game. Booker is active and elite in the midrange. By making more than 49% of his midrangers this season, he ranked sixth in the NBA in midrange shooting efficiency and fifth in midrange points per game.

Deandre Ayton

Deandre Ayton gives the Suns an old-school interior threat. He has made 71% of his field goal attempts during the playoffs, the highest percentage in a single postseason in NBA history.

At 22, Ayton is on pace to make a higher share of his shots than any other player in playoff history. During this postseason, Ayton ranks second in the league in total points scored in the restricted area, trailing only Giannis Antetokounmpo. But get this: Ayton has made a red-hot 83% of his attempts up close, which is even better than Antetokounmpo. If Ayton gets the ball near the rim, the Bucks are in trouble.

Ayton can create his own dunks and layups. He can turn offensive boards into putbacks, and of course he’s pretty good at catching lobs. But Ayton is more than just a dunking machine; he’s got great touch too. Out of 34 players who have tried at least 50 2-point shots outside the restricted area this postseason, Ayton’s 57% conversion rate ranks third.

Milwaukee Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo is already a two-time MVP winner at age 26, and he’s been the league’s most ferocious interior scorer for years. He comes into these Finals as both the postseason’s top rebounder and its top interior scorer.

Antetokounmpo has the physical gifts of a dominant center and no player of these gifts has ever used the Eurostep as well as he does. His handles may not be legendary, but his strides are. Antetokounmpo can cover more ground with one or two strides than any other player in the world, and when you factor in that he has successfully integrated Eurosteps into his arsenal, the result is arguably the most unstoppable driving scorer in the world.

Since the beginning of the 2018-19 season, nobody has dribbled into as many dunks and layups as Antetokounmpo. The stats prove that Milwaukee’s MVP is one of the most physically imposing players in the game.

Khris Middleton

Khris Middleton has become one of the most complete scorers in the league. Like Booker, he’s a threat from everywhere on the floor, but his signature shots are his jumpers. Those Middleton jumpers make or break Milwaukee’s offensive firepower.

With Antetokounmpo out and Trae Young hobbled in Game 6 of the East finals, Middleton had to be the best player in the game, and he was. His wide array of shooting skills was on full display in an epic third quarter. He led the Bucks on a furious run, scoring 16 consecutive Milwaukee points and finishing with 23 in the quarter, the most in a single frame in his career.

In a world where Antetokounmpo isn’t 100 percent, Middleton immediately becomes the Bucks’ MVP in this series.