Holiday, in essence, is acting as MilwaukeeвЂ™s fire extinguisher. He had just 13 points on 15 attempts with Holiday living in his hip pocket the rest of the way, and he shot just 1 of 5 with two airballs, one turnover and one assist on the 18 halfcourt possessions when Holiday was his main defender in the second half. Meanwhile, the burden-sharing balance has tipped in BookerвЂ™s direction.Д«ooker had 27 points on 18 shots when the Bucks switched HolidayвЂ™s primary matchup from Paul to Booker midway through the third quarter of Game 5.

Since that dominant performance, the share of time Paul has had the ball in his hands during the average Suns offensive possession has dipped from a high of 52 percent all the way down to 37 percent. And lastly, itвЂ™s led to Paul giving the ball up more often, meaning heвЂ™s not been the one at the controls of the offense as regularly as he was during his Game 1 masterpiece. Second, itвЂ™s forced the SunsвЂ™ 36-year-old point guard - who has dealt with both a shoulder injury and COVID-19 during this playoff run - to put in just a little bit of extra effort to get the ball into the frontcourt, helping wear him down over the course of the game. That would have ranked as the slowest average of any team in the league this season. On average, Phoenix has gotten the ball across the halfcourt line with 19.01 seconds left on the shot clock during this series, according to Second Spectrum data provided to FiveThirtyEight. First, itвЂ™s helped shave precious seconds off the shot clock that could otherwise be used later in the possession, thus limiting PhoenixвЂ™s late-clock options. The additional pressure has had three distinct but equally important effects.

In fact, Holiday has met Paul beyond the halfcourt line on at least 55 possessions. He has consistently picked up Paul several steps into the backcourt - even on possessions when it wouldnвЂ™t seem to be necessary. He used Holiday as PaulвЂ™s primary defender in Game 2, and in each of the past four games, Holiday has spent more possessions defending Paul than Booker.Д«eginning in Game 3, Holiday has also employed a tactic rarely used at the NBA level: full-court pressure. Tucker, Paul torched MilwaukeeвЂ™s pick-and-roll defense to the tune of 32 points and nine assists, roasting drop coverage and switches alike while generating 1.242 points per possession, according to Second Spectrum.Д«ucks coach Mike Budenholzer then did what heвЂ™d previously been loath to do as the Bucks got knocked out of the past two postseasons: He adjusted. But while that was going on, Chris Paul dominated the proceedings from start to finish. In Game 1, the Bucks put Holiday on Booker, and he hounded the SunsвЂ™ 24-year-old All-Star into 27 points on 26 shooting possessions. While Giannis Antetokounmpo was slapping up 40-point double-doubles and blocking alley-oops, and while Khris Middleton was going shot-for-shot with Devin Booker and dropping 24 second-half points, Holiday was busy making a somewhat less noticeable but still extremely important contribution: throwing a wrench in the gears of the Phoenix SunsвЂ™ finely tuned offensive orchestra. It was a play that exemplified exactly why the Bucks traded so very much to land Holiday last offseason, why they lavished him with a monster contract extension back in April and why - despite his occasional bout of Eric Bledsoe-esque shooting and penchant for the periodic puzzling turnover - that splurge has been worth the price.

Jrue holiday stats