NBA FINALS: BUCKS VS. SUNS

July 8, 2021

Mike Budenholzer

Milwaukee Bucks

Game 2: Postgame

Phoenix Suns 118, Milwaukee Bucks 108

Q. You obviously get the huge game offensively out of Giannis, but Jrue and Khris struggled. What did you see that led to their struggles tonight?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: You always give credit to the defense. Those guys do a good job. There's probably a few looks that I think they got to go in when you're playing against a good defensive team -- you get a good, clean one. Jrue was getting to the paint a lot. I liked his aggressiveness. I think we need all three of those guys. I think if they just keep working, they will come good.

Q. What did you see with Booker and Paul, getting to their spots?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: We'll look at the film. I thought Jrue and his pressure and being up -- I think it will be like every game. There will be some good stuff. There will be some ones where they are hitting tough shots. We've just got to keep making it tough on them.

Q. Can you speak a little bit to what Giannis tried to do or did do there in the third quarter. I think 13 straight points for the team to kind of cut that deficit. And then I guess after that, you probably needed somebody to make some shots. So what did you see as he took over a little bit offensively but couldn't quite sustain it?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think it's a six-point game with four and a half minutes to go. I think we had an open wing three to cut it to three. I think a couple of offensive boards, we couldn't get that rebound that we needed.

So I thought the group, after being down 15, 16, whatever it was, Giannis took a big load and we were right there with four and a half to go. I think we just got to go home, look at the film again tonight and just keep working to get better against this group.

Q. You mentioned those rebounds in the fourth quarter. Obviously you went small to kind of combat them. Is that part of the calculus in terms of deciding whether to go small and instead of having Brook on the court to put you in position to maybe give up some of those?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, it's the great part about the playoffs. Sometimes you need to play smaller, more shooting, things of that nature, and it can hurt you in other areas. It's like that give-and-take game. I thought Brook had good minutes. I thought Brook helped us.

But that small group, we've done it in other series, other games. They've got to rebound. Everybody's got to participate. You've got to be able to do both.

Q. You talked about wanting to limit them in transition and at the line, and you did that. But they had 20 threes. Was there anything that you guys broke down at in this respect or was that more of what they were doing offensively?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: A little bit of both. I think their ability to make the pass kind of on time, on target. Paul and Booker attract a lot of attention, and particularly in the first half, I think they made us pay a little bit for that extra attention on them. Bridges hit some shots. Crowder hit some shots. They make 20 threes tonight. And then they made some tough ones, too.

But I think their ability to attract a little bit of attention and then make the pass and guys make shots, hopefully that's an area where we can improve.

Q. I think Giannis played 40 minutes tonight. Is there any limit to the number of minutes he can play right now? And for you personally, is it difficult to lean on him as much as you have to right now considering the injury he's playing with?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think there's feedback between him and myself and the sports performance (team). I think he's in a pretty good place.

Obviously conditioning-wise, to take -- first of all, to have the injury, and then to have five days, six days, whatever it was, before Game 1. But he wants to be out there. It's hard -- I think he understands and I think he'll be better going into Game 3, his conditioning, everything.

I think he want us to lean on him hard. He wants as much responsibility as we can give him, and that's part of what makes him great.

Q. Is there anything you feel like is different to his game right now? Are you seeing that he's able to do all of the same things?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, I would say pretty much the norm, which is very good, very special. So we just need him to keep pushing.

Q. I wanted to go back to Jrue. You really don't have a lot of time for practice and rest. So do you talk to him about shot selection, go inside constantly to get things rolling? And I know you like to play free and every team wants to get a lead, so do you maybe have some more structure in the next game, set plays, to get things rolling? Or what do you do if it's not those things?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think Jrue got some good looks. I actually think there's some opportunities where he can be even more aggressive. He's got to be aggressive from the three-point (line). He's got to be aggressive getting to the paint, and he was.

So are there things we'll walk through and talk about? Yeah. But at the end of the day, we've built our habits. This group has done a lot of good things.

We're going home. We're excited about our crowd. We're excited about being there, and we've got to go play our game.

Jrue's got to play his game. He knows how to play. He and I will talk, but it will be more just keep being aggressive.

Our spacing I think was better tonight. I think his opportunities were better. I think we've just got to keep doing that going into Game 3.

Q. There was a clip of Giannis being extremely vocal during a timeout. What do you think of the intensity he showed from tip-off to the entire game?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: It's impressive. His leadership, he's always taking that on and growing there. I think he and Khris and Tuck in the timeouts, the group, there's a ton of togetherness and it's good. That's what you need. You're in a hostile environment. So I just love the way Giannis talks to his teammates, even the other night when he was out, the connection. He's a great leader.

Q. 2-0 and you trailed for most of both games, but a couple times you were a couple possessions away. How close do you think you are? What do you leave here feeling good about?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think both first quarters, we've been pretty good or we've been in a good place. The second quarter tonight stands out. The last four or five minutes of the second quarter they were able to get some separation that I think hurt, and again in the start of the third quarter.

But I think defensively, I think there's some progress and improvement. We've just got to keep working that end, and same thing offensively. We've just got to get better and we've got to go home and play good basketball.

Q. You guys got it to five, 93-88, and Giannis needed to come out. What was ailing him in that moment?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Was that early fourth quarter, like I think the ten- or eleven-minute mark in the fourth quarter?

Q. I think maybe a bit later, but yeah.

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, I think he had -- I probably shouldn't say anything. But I'm pretty certain it was a cramp. Not anything he felt with the injury or anything. I think it was just a little bit of a cramping. Get some fluids in him. Just get him a little bit of a rest. It was what he was feeling at that point. I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same time.