The Suns did what they did during their three previous playoff series, they came out fired up and executed well in winning and covering the spread in Tuesday's Game 1.

Phoenix, though, failed to cover the number in Game 2 during their series against the Lakers and Clippers. The Suns' playoff and big-game inexperience showed in those non-covers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo looked fine on Tuesday. The Bucks are right there with the Suns with a healthy Antetokounmpo.

There are a number of signs pointing to the Bucks not only covering this Game 2, but perhaps coming away with the straight-up victory.

Antetokounmpo scored 20 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and defended the rim. He was somewhat rusty, though. He needs his rhythm and he'll find it here. He's capable of playing even better.

Free throws. What the hell? The Suns shot 26 free throws in Game 1. Their only miss came with 24 seconds left. They were 25-of-26. Milwaukee only got to shoot 16 free throws. Kris Middleton fired 26 shots - and didn't draw one foul. Strange.

The Bucks are well-coached defensively. It's extremely rare for an opponent to get that many free throws against Milwaukee. The Bucks will be more aggressive. The lopsided foul situation should be rectified. It was an outlier.

The Bucks had to play on much shorter rest than Phoenix in Game 1. The Bucks also got caught off-guard defending the Suns' pick-and-roll. Adjustments will be made. ''That will be a big part of looking between Game 1 and Game 2,'' Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was quoted as saying.

Milwaukee has covered the past four times following a non-cover.

I expect Jrue Holiday to play better, too. He didn't shoot well in Game 1 and may have been too passive with Antetokounmpo back in the lineup after playing great in the last two games without him. Holiday isn't Chris Paul, but he's a solid two-way player.