很容易让凯里斯·米德尔顿成为故事的主角。进攻方面，他是密尔沃基雄鹿队周三109-103大胜的英雄，在NBA总决赛第四场比赛中得到40分。米德尔顿在第四节拿下14分，其中一对连续的中距离跳投让雄鹿在剩下不到90秒的时间里对太阳队提高了2分。他们是那种你需要在面对精英赛的关键时刻出手的球
从另一个角度来看，密尔沃基的辩护可能就是故事。菲尼克斯在第四节只得到了21分，就在米德尔顿跳投之后，吉安尼斯·安特托昆波打出了他非凡职业生涯中最荒谬的一次，一记迪安德尔·艾顿·艾利的oop扣篮将比分扳平。
事实上，米德尔顿做了一些关键的高压射门，安特托昆波不可思议的盖帽象征着所有的防守努力和勇气，让雄鹿走到了这一步。不过，在某种程度上，这些剧本是误导性的
密尔沃基需要米德尔顿投33球，因为它的半场进攻失去了上一场比赛的魔力。太阳队在对阵安特托昆波的比赛中表现出了更多的帮助，派出了一些替补队员，尽最大努力让射手们恢复过来。这一策略在很大程度上奏效了：雄鹿场上命中率为40.2%，三分球命中率为7:29，霍利德20投中有16投不中，米德尔顿不得不一次又一次地救出他们。在半场，密尔沃基队每100次进攻得到90.7分，根据清洁玻璃队的数据，在常规赛中排名第27位。尽管米德尔顿的投篮命中率很高，但在距离篮筐65分的情况下，每CTG投18中
雄鹿队也不是特别擅长让菲尼克斯失利。太阳队的投篮命中率为51.3%，尽管密尔沃基在外围缠着他们，完善了防守计划，缩短了轮换时间，但按照CTG的标准，太阳队在半场的每100次控球命中率为103.2分，略好于他们的精英常规赛成绩。就像第三场比赛一样，菲尼克斯不能得到角球3分，但与第三场不同的是，德文布克对雄鹿扔给他的一切都有答案。在比米德尔顿少4分半钟的时间里，布克17投28中得到42分
密尔沃基再次以微弱优势赢得了比赛。太阳队的七分球得到19秒的机会分，凤凰队的零分球得到15秒的快攻分。雄鹿队最终比太阳队多进了19个罚球，10个罚球和19分的失误。
在还剩8分钟的时候，安特托昆波抢到了一个界内传球，然后从一个海岸到另一个海岸毫无争议地扣篮
这样的失误是教练的噩梦，也是蒙蒂·威廉姆斯在赛后告诉球员们他们在“给自己制造麻烦”的原因“今晚发生的事情是可以纠正的，”他在费瑟夫论坛的更衣室说他们得到了17个进攻篮板。我们有17次失误。想想看，伙计们。”
抢断和扣篮比米德尔顿关键时刻的中锋和安特托昆波的盖帽更能代表雄鹿的表现。几分钟后帕特·康诺顿的小费也是如此：
在剩下不到四分钟的时候，对布克的一次不必要的犯规成为了一个核心故事。然而，如果不是克里斯·保罗错过了另一端与艾顿的联系，导致了一场3对1的快攻，这一切都不会发生：
菲尼克斯在那之后宣布暂停，在下一次控球时，保罗因上篮失误撞到了地板。雄鹿队向另一个方向冲刺，太阳队用墙挡住了禁区，康诺顿在过渡中转换了角球3：
米德尔顿跳投后，太阳队落后两人，保罗失去了立足点，并在一次挑滚中把球翻过来，让布克处于几分钟前同样不舒服的位置：
密尔沃基主教练迈克·布登霍尔泽称之为“精神韧性的胜利”。而威廉姆斯则只能感叹“很多自残的东西”给凤凰城留下了“我们要爬的小山”。他们两人都是对的。雄鹿在整个季后赛中表现出了很强的韧性，他们的表现足以让雄鹿登顶。然而，他们在半场的表现通常会让任何人在与太阳的比赛中难逃厄运，因为太阳一般都会看管球，不允许有太多的转换机会或进攻篮板。
威廉姆斯说“我们的队员在半场做了一个不真实的工作”，在第五场比赛中，当出现失误和击中玻璃时，他们会做得更好。菲尼克斯的记录表明情况会是这样，但是密尔沃基已经开始建立自己的记录：让进攻型球员不舒服，拥有内线，赢得控球比赛，拼凑足够的分数来生存。保罗在过去的三场比赛中把球翻了15次，雄鹿队在所有系列赛中都有一个优势。不管他们的配方是否能对抗太阳，很明显他们就是这么做的。
原标题：
NBA Finals: How the Bucks won Game 4 on the margins, beyond Khris Middleton's heroics and Giannis' block
原文：
It's easy to make Khris Middleton the story. Offensively, he was the hero of the Milwaukee Bucks' 109-103 victory on Wednesday, scoring 40 points in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Middleton scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of midrange jumpers on consecutive possessions to put the Bucks up by two points against the Phoenix Suns with less than 90 seconds left. They were the kind of shots you need to make in the clutch against elite competition.
From another angle, Milwaukee's defense could be the story. Phoenix scored only 21 points in the fourth quarter, and, right after Middleton's jumpers, Giannis Antetokounmpo made perhaps the most preposterous play of his extraordinary career, swatting a Deandre Ayton alley-oop dunk that would have tied the game.
Indeed, Middleton made some crucial, high-pressure shots, and Antetokounmpo's inconceivable block symbolized all of the defensive effort and grit that got the Bucks to this point. In a way, though, these plays are misleading.
Milwaukee needed Middleton to take 33 shots because its halfcourt offense lost the mojo it had found in the previous game瓦伦西亚赛事分析. The Suns showed more help against Antetokounmpo, sent some double-teams his way and did their best to recover out to shooters. This strategy largely worked: The Bucks shot 40.2 percent from the field and 7 for 29 from 3-point range, Jrue Holiday missed 16 of his 20 shots and Middleton was forced to bail them out time and time again. In the halfcourt, Milwaukee scored 90.7 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning The Glass, which would have ranked 27th in the regular season. Despite Middleton's shotmaking, it shot 18 for 65 away from the rim, per CTG.
The Bucks were not particularly good at making Phoenix miss, either. The Suns shot 51.3 percent, and despite Milwaukee pestering them on the perimeter, refining its defensive game plan and shortening its rotation, scored 103.2 points per 100 possessions in the halfcourt, per CTG, which is slightly better than their elite regular-season mark. Just like in Game 3, Phoenix couldn't generate corner 3s, but unlike Game 3, Devin Booker had an answer for everything the Bucks threw at him. In four and a half fewer minutes than Middleton, Booker scored 42 points on 17 for 28 shooting.
Once again, Milwaukee won the game on the margins. It scored 19 second-chance points to the Suns' seven and 15 fast break points to Phoenix's zero. The Bucks finished with 19 more attempted field goals, 10 more attempted free throws and 19 more points off turnovers than the Suns did.
With about eight minutes left, Antetokounmpo stole an inbounds pass and went coast to coast for an uncontested dunk
Turnovers like that are the stuff of a coach's nightmares and the reason Monty Williams told his players that they were "making it hard on ourselves" postgame. "What happened tonight is correctable," he said in the locker room at Fiserv Forum. "Seventeen offensive rebounds they got. Seventeen turnovers we had. Think about that, guys."
The steal and dunk were more representative of what the Bucks did well than either of Middleton's crunch-time midrangers or Antetokounmpo's block. The same is true of Pat Connaughton's tip-in a few minutes later:
With less than four minutes left, an uncalled foul against Booker became a central storyline. It would never have happened, however, if not for Chris Paul's missed connection with Ayton on the other end, leading to a 3-on-1 fast break:
Phoenix called timeout after that, and, on the next possession, Paul hit the floor as he missed a layup. The Bucks sprinted the other way, the Suns walled off the paint and Connaughton converted a corner 3 in transition:
The Suns trailed by two after Middleton's jumpers, at which point Paul lost his footing and turned the ball over running a pick-and-roll, leaving Booker in the exact same uncomfortable position he was in a few minutes earlier:
Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer called it a "mental-toughness win." Williams, on the other hand, was left to lament that "a lot of self-inflicted stuff" had left Phoenix with "a bit of a hill for us to climb." Both of them are correct. The Bucks have shown themselves to be resilient throughout these playoffs, experts at doing just enough to come out on top. The kind of numbers they're putting up in the halfcourt, however, will usually doom anybody against these Suns, who typically take care of the ball and don't allow many transition opportunities or offensive rebounds.
Williams said that "our guys did an unreal job in the halfcourt" defensively and will be better in Game 5 when it comes to turnovers and hitting the glass. Phoenix's track record suggests that this will be the case, but Milwaukee is beginning to compile a track record of its own: Making great offensive players uncomfortable, owning the paint, winning the possession game and cobbling together just enough points to survive. Paul has turned the ball over 15 times in the last three games, and the Bucks have had an edge in these swing categories all series. Regardless of whether or not their formula proves sustainable against the Suns, it's become clear that this is what they do.
