Today in Suns History: Phoenix goes up 2-0 on the Bucks in the Finals

On this day in Suns history, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 118-108 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, extending their series lead to 2-0. Devin Booker led the way for the Valley with 31 points and 7 made threes. Mikal Bridges scored a then playoff career-high 27 points, and Chris Paul had 23 points, to go along with 8 assists.

It simultaneously feels like yesterday, but also a decade ago. The closest the Valley has ever gotten to winning the Finals, the 2020-2021 Phoenix Suns should always be honored.

The 2019-2020 team set the groundwork for the finals run the subsequent year. When Chris Paul arrived in the 2020 offseason, he helped move the development and winning processes along, sprinkling his veteran experience onto Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, and Deandre Ayton, the then core of the team.

Togetherness, defense, and efficiency are three words I would use to describe the team. Finishing 51-21, Paul and Booker made the All-Star team, Deandre Ayton had a career year from the field and asserted himself as a top center, and Mikal Bridges helped solidify himself as an elite wing defender. Even in a pandemic-shortened season, the Valley had their first 50-win season in 11 years.

After falling 2-1 to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, the Suns rattled off 9-straight playoff wins on their way to the finals, beating the Lakers in six, the Denver Nuggets in four, and the Los Angeles Clippers in six. After going up 2-0 on the Milwaukee Bucks in the finals, Phoenix lost four straight games, topped off by an iconic 50-point Giannis Antetokoumnpo performance that gave the Milwaukee their first title in 50 years and ended the Valleys out-of-nowhere run.

Only Devin Booker remains from that finals team. Phoenix is now two head coaches removed from Monty Williams, who led the team. If the Valley gets to the mountaintop soon, it will be because of firepower. Offensive minds Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are the main pieces surrounding Booker, the team’s cornerstone player, not Paul, Bridges, and Ayton.

The teamwork and culture building the 2020-2021 team possessed should be cherished, no matter how this new era of the Suns turns out. No matter what happens with this version of the Suns, it will never be the same as the team that went on a Finals run out of the middle of nowhere.