Suns unsure of Craig's status for Game 3 due to knee injury
MILWAUKEE (AP) â As the Phoenix Sunsâ NBA Finals lead is growing, their rotation could be shrinking.
Suns coach Monty Williams said Torrey Craigâs status for Sundayâs Game 3 is uncertain after the reserve forward hurt his right knee during a collision with a driving Giannis Antetokounmpo in the third quarter of Phoenixâs 118-108 Game 2 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.
Phoenix already is playing without reserve forward Dario Saric, who tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in the first quarter of Phoenixâs 118-105 Game 1 triumph on Tuesday. Craigâs injury isnât nearly as severe.
âHe got some testing done yesterday,â Williams said Saturday. âAll of that came back clean, but heâs still sore. So I canât make much of a statement on his availability or anything like that. Weâre going to get through today. Weâll have a light practice today and put him through some paces. Weâll be able to make a better statement about his availability tomorrow, and then weâll adjust accordingly.â
Williams mentioned Cam Johnson and Abdel Nader as players who could have bigger roles if Craig is unavailable. Johnson has averaged 9 points and 19.5 minutes in the finals. Nader has played just one minute over the first two games of this series.
CROWDERâS HOMECOMING
Suns forward Jae Crowder is very familiar with the city of Milwaukee after playing for Marquette from 2010-12. Crowder says he still knows some of the Fiserv Forum employees who also worked at the Bradley Center when the Bucks and Marquette both played there.
But that doesnât mean heâs making restaurant recommendations to his teammates. Heâs making sure his favorite local restaurants are bringing food to the Sunsâ hotel to make sure they donât have to go out.
âYou wonât see us in the city,â Crowder sad. âWeâre going to get a lot of stuff catered to us from a variety of restaurants here. A couple of us are vegan. Iâve talked to the training staff more than my teammates about food because weâre not leaving the hotel. Weâre eating in. Weâre locked in. But I do have a few suggestions for my teammates that weâre going to take advantage of while weâre here.â
MAKING LIKE MARSHAWN
Milwaukeeâs 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals hasnât impacted Antetokounmpoâs sense of humor.
The two-time MVP did his best impression of former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch at the start of his news conference. He responded to the first question by saying, âIâm just here not to get fined,â before breaking into laughter.
âWe all understand what kind of game we are getting ourselves into tomorrow,â said Antetokounmpo, who scored 42 points in Game 2. âSo we know what we got to do. But at the end of the day, you got to keep it light. You cannot tell yourself, âOh, itâs the finals. You got to do this.â
âThereâs so much pressure, man. No, like, itâs still basketball. Itâs easy to say, hard to do, but at the same time, you have to try to approach it that way. Just got to keep it light. Got to keep the ball light. You got to keep the atmosphere light.â
VILLANOVA LESSONS
Suns forward Mikal Bridges, who scored 27 points in Game 2, says playing on Villanovaâs 2016 and 2018 national championship teams helped prepare him for this stage.
Bridges says it wasnât necessarily the NCAA Tournament competition that helped him so much, as he noted the NBA Finals is a whole different level. But he said experiencing Villanovaâs championship culture and staying there four years made him a better player.
âI did four years, and you come out a man and it prepares you for the real world,â Bridges said. âIâm telling you, itâs just made NBA life way easier. When I first got into the league, going to âNova, I canât picture myself coming out of high school or doing a year or two somewhere else and going into the league. Iâd feel like fresh, young, donât know what to do with myself. But âNova really got me being a man coming into the league and things like that.â
Villanova's championship teams also included Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo, who was the most outstanding player of the 2018 Final Four. DiVincenzo isn't playing in the Finals after tearing a ligament in his left ankle during Milwaukee's first-round series with Miami.
AYTONâS VIRAL MOMENT
Williamsâ inspiring pep talk to Phoenixâs DeAndre Ayton late in Game 2 has gained plenty of attention on social media over the last couple of days.
But Ayton says the moment wasnât anything out of the ordinary.
âYou have to understand, thatâs Monty every day,â Ayton said. âYou all just captured one moment. Thatâs Monty every second, every day, just making sure he uplifts his players, and heâs instilling wisdom into us.â
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