MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN- In the first quarter, Grant Hill of the Bucks started off the game clicking on all cylinders. He scored an amazing 17 opening-period points, making good on 6 of 9 field goal attempts, and 5 of 6 foul shots. Like the Hill of old, Grant also rounded out his statline with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. “Right from the get-go, I knew I had a good game in me tonight,” Hill remarked. “I recognized that spring in my step that I used to have with the Pistons.”
Milwaukee also received a solid opener from another veteran, Vlade Divac, who registered 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal while providing energy and inspiration for his team-mates. When PG Beno Udrih canned a 3-pointer with 4:50 left, Milwaukee led 17-8. The Suns were only capable of trimming 2 points off that margin by quarter’s end, despite big performances from Amare Stoudmire (10 pts, 5 rebs, 2 ast, 1 stl) and Joe Johnson (8 pts, 3 rebs). At the end of 1, the Milwaukee Bucks led 31-24. 
In the second quarter, the Bucks fed off the great energy of the Milwaukee home crowd, who in turn got more pumped up with their beloved team’s great play. Hill lit up the Suns defense for 8 more points while grabbing 4 more boards, raising his totals to 25 pts and 8 rebs! 
Reserve center Melvin Ely stepped nicely in for Divac with a 3-for-4 effort. Milwaukee’s lead extended to 35-24, then 45-35 with 4:16 left in the half, and at halftime they led by 14 points: 55-41. Phoenix had shot only 32% in the second quarter. 
Having already lost their first two games at home, the Suns knew that they had to have a great 2nd half or they’d be in the dreaded 0-3 hole in the series. Phoenix head coach Mike D’Antoni told them to have faith in themselves and in each other, and to be aggressive in the second half. “Leave it all out there on the floor,” he urged.
The Suns took his coaching to heart in the third quarter, and played desperate basketball. For the first time in the series, they really buckled down defensively, and held Milwaukee to a 19-point quarter. Phoenix also dominated the boards 11 to 5. They combined winning the “hustle” points with lighting up real points with a 62% shooting quarter.
The Bucks’ 16 point lead early in the 3rd was, in 8 minutes, cut down to 4. Two Amare Stoudemire free throws completed the comeback as Phoenix tied the game at 71-71, with 34.5 seconds left in the period. Beno Udrih’s 3 pointer gave Milwaukee a 74-71 lead after 3, but the Bucks certainly had seen the momentum shift to the team from the Valley of the Sun.
Dwyane Wade was in the midst of one of the worse performances of his career: he had only 6 points on 1-for-9 shooting after 3 quarters. If it wasn’t for the continued dominance of Hill, who had 10 more points (raising his total to 35!) on 5-for-7 shooting, Milwaukee might have completely collapsed in the 3rd. But thanks to Mr. Hill and an earlier double-digit lead, Milwaukee still found themselves one solid quarter away from being one win away from an NBA Title.
Bucks coach Terry Porter made a lineup change to start the fourth: he put Dwyane Wade in at point guard. Immediate dividends came as the Bucks opened the quarter on a 8-2 run to lead 80-73.
Grant Hill was taking a short breather on the bench, and when he came back in Porter decided to move Wade back over to the 2, and inserted Nate Robinson in at point guard. The Bucks’ lineup was completed with Melvin Ely playing well at center, and Dwight Howard at power forward.
Ely’s tip-in put Milwaukee up 86-79 with 3:38 to play, and Robinson baseline slam dunk made it 90-83 with 2:14 left. Phoenix battled hard, and were within 5 points in the final minute, but Shawn Marion blew a fastbreak layup! 
Then Robinson converted a layup of his own- 92-85. Two plays later Amare Stoudemire made a jumper that cut the lead to 3, 92-89, with 26.5 seconds left.
The Suns decided not to foul, but try to get a stop and then go for the tie with the remaining time. So the Bucks ran the clock down, passing the ball around, but with 7.5 seconds left, Melvin Ely made an errant pass that floated out of bounds! Phoenix regained possession, but inexplicably, they gave it in to Stoudemire, who shot and missed a 15 footer! They were down 3! 
Melvin Ely snared the rebound, and that was the ballgame.
Phoenix Coach Mike D’Antoni’s emotions were divided between shock 
and fury 
, while Bucks Coach Terry Porter was shocked 
and ecstatic 
. His team was 1 win away from the NBA Championship!
FINAL SCORE: BUCKS 92, SUNS 89
BUCKS NOTES
The Bucks are just getting it done: in Game 1, 4 players had 20+ points, in Game 2, Dwyane Wade scored 37, and in Game 3, Grant Hill exploded for 39. It's been a total team effort all the way.
SUNS NOTES
Steve Nash had a series-best 13 assists in the game, but also committed 10 turnovers! "That will never happen again," he vowed...Amare Stoudemire had another big night, but Shawn Marion continues to really struggle with his shot...The Suns had better get it together in Game 4.
GAME STATS
MILWAUKEE
Divac: 4 pts, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1-2 FGs
Howard: 5 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 2-9 FGs
Hill: 39 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 15-25 FGs
Wade: 10 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 3-14 FGs
Udrih: 8 pts, 0 reb, 4 ast, 2-4 FGs
Rush: 2 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1-4 FGs
Traylor: 0 pts, 4 reb, 0 ast, 0-3 FGs
Robinson: 6 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast, 3-8 FGs
Ely: 16 pts, 7 reb, 1 ast, 8-14 FGs
Bowen: 2 pts, 2 reb, 0 ast, 0-0 FGs
Collins: 0 pts, 0 reb, 0 ast, 0-0 FGs
TOTALS: 35-83 FGs (42.2%), 20-22 FTs, 43 REB (10 OFF), 21 AST, 11 FL
PHOENIX
Stoudemire: 30 pts, 9 reb, 3 ast, 12-22 FGs
Marion: 10 pts, 9 reb, 1 ast, 5-17 FGs
Richardson: 10 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast, 5-13 FGs
Johnson: 22 pts, 6 reb, 1 ast, 11-20 FGS
Nash: 4 pts, 2 reb, 13 ast, 2-8 FGs
Abdul-Wahad: 2 pts, 2 reb, 0 ast, 1-5 FGs
Nesby: 2 pts, 0 reb, 0 ast, 1-1 FGs
McCarty: 9 pts, 6 reb, 0 ast, 4-8 FGs
Voskuhl: 0 pts, 3 reb, 0 ast, 0-1 FGs
Barbosa: 0 pts, 0 reb, 4 ast, 0-2 FGs
TOTALS: 41-97 FGs (42.3%), 6-9 FTs, 47 REB (16 OFF), 24 AST, 17 FL
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SCORING
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Suns 24 17 30 18---89
Bucks 31 24 19 18---92
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Three-point field goals: Milwaukee 2-9 (Udrih 2-4, Hill 0-1, Rush 0-2, Robinson 0-2), Phoenix 1-4 (McCarty 1-1, Barbosa 0-1, Nash 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Turnovers: Milwaukee 18, Phoenix 15. Steals: Milwaukee 13 (Wade 8), Phoenix 12 (Richardson 4). Blocks: Milwaukee 6 (Howard 3), Phoenix 8 (Stoudemire 2, Nash 2).
BUCKS LEAD SERIES 3-0
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in it, a tribute to the Bucks’ defense yes, but moreover, Phoenix was just totally out of sync offensively. Their coach Mike D’Antoni explained during a halftime interview, 
J/K, I know you were trying to say thanks. No problem, Diogo, I want to be a teacher one day, but one piece of teaching wisdom is that a teacher is useless without students willing to learn. So: thank you for being willing!
What team are you playing?
