I still remember the tension in Fiserv Forum during Game 4 when Coach Monty Williams received his second technical foul. As someone who's covered basketball for over fifteen years, I've seen countless technicals change games, but this one felt particularly significant. The Suns were up 2-1 in the series at that point, fighting to maintain their advantage, and losing their head coach during such a crucial moment created a visible shift in momentum. Giannis Antetokounmpo would go on to score 40 points that night while shooting an incredible 14-of-23 from the field, and the Bucks never looked back after that victory. What struck me most wasn't just the technical itself, but how it highlighted the ongoing debate about coaching ejections in critical moments.
The Chris Paul versus Jrue Holiday matchup ultimately became the defining battle of this series, and I've got to say, Holiday's defensive mastery surprised even me. Through the first two games, Paul looked like his vintage self, averaging 27 points and 8 assists while committing just 1.5 turnovers per game. But starting with Game 3, Holiday's relentless pressure began paying dividends. He held Paul to just 19 points in Game 4 and forced him into 5 turnovers in the closeout Game 6. The numbers tell part of the story - Paul's shooting percentage dropped from 52% in Games 1-2 to just 41% in Games 3-6 - but they don't capture how Holiday's physicality wore down the Suns' floor general. Having watched Holiday since his Pelicans days, I always knew he was special defensively, but his performance in this series cemented his status as perhaps the best perimeter defender in the game today.
When we talk about game-changing moments, we can't ignore the Brook Lopez adjustment that Mike Budenholzer made starting in Game 3. Lopez had been playing mostly drop coverage in the first two games, which allowed Devin Booker too much space in the mid-range. I remember thinking after Game 2 that Budenholzer needed to switch something up, and boy did he deliver. Lopez began showing higher on screens and occasionally switching onto smaller players, disrupting the Suns' pick-and-roll rhythm. The stats show Lopez averaged 2.8 blocks per game in the final four contests, but his impact went far beyond those numbers. His ability to protect the rim while still contesting perimeter shots gave the Bucks a defensive versatility they lacked earlier in the series. From my perspective, this adjustment was Budenholzer's masterstroke, proving that sometimes the smallest tactical changes can swing an entire championship.
The Giannis versus Ayton matchup presented the classic battle of unstoppable force versus immovable object, though I'd argue Giannis proved more unstoppable than anyone anticipated. His 50-point closeout performance in Game 6 will go down as one of the greatest Finals performances I've ever witnessed. Ayton actually did a respectable job defensively, holding Giannis to 44% shooting when matched up directly according to NBA tracking data, but the problem was Giannis' sheer volume and ability to draw fouls. The Suns' big man found himself in foul trouble throughout the series, committing 4.2 fouls per game compared to his regular season average of 2.9. Having covered Giannis since his rookie year, I've never seen him attack with such purpose and control as he did in these Finals. His free throw shooting, which had been a weakness throughout his career, improved to nearly 70% in the series - not great, but enough to make defenders pay for fouling him.
Which brings me back to that coaching ejection and the larger conversation about technical fouls in critical moments. When Coach Williams was tossed, it reminded me of Chris Paul's comments earlier this season about how the league should reconsider automatic ejections for coaches who are just fighting for their teams. "If there is a wrong call and your coach is out there fighting for you, then at least consider allowing him to come back to the game to help his team win because he was out there fighting for us," Paul had argued. I tend to agree with this perspective, especially in championship-deciding games. The Suns were leading by 2 when Williams was ejected in the third quarter of Game 4, but ended up losing by 6. While we can't directly attribute the loss solely to his absence, the timing certainly didn't help. In my view, the league should implement a system where coaches can accumulate penalty points rather than face automatic ejection for two technicals, particularly in the playoffs.
The role players made significant impacts too, though I think the Bucks' supporting cast ultimately outperformed the Suns'. Milwaukee's Bobby Portis provided crucial energy off the bench, scoring 16 points in Game 5, while Phoenix's Cameron Payne struggled with his shot, connecting on just 38% of his attempts after his brilliant Western Conference Finals performance. Sometimes it comes down to which role players step up in the biggest moments, and the Bucks clearly had the advantage here. P.J. Tucker's defensive work against Devin Booker, particularly in Games 5 and 6, deserves more credit than it's getting. Tucker held Booker to 8-of-22 shooting when matched up in those final two games, proving that veteran defenders can still impact games without filling up the stat sheet.
Looking back at the series as a whole, the Bucks won because they adapted better as the series progressed. They identified their advantages - Giannis in the paint, Holiday on defense, Lopez's versatility - and maximized them. The Suns, meanwhile, seemed to stick with what had worked earlier in the playoffs without making sufficient adjustments. As much as I admired Phoenix's story this season, Milwaukee's ability to win four straight after dropping the first two games demonstrated a championship mentality that separates good teams from great ones. The coaching ejection controversy highlights how small moments can alter championships, but ultimately, the better team won because they won the key matchups where games are truly decided.
