Phoenix Suns are two steps away from their initial National Basketball Association championship

The Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns are two steps away from their initial National Basketball Association championship, and it appears their fans have been rehearsing for ages.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks won it once, way back in 1971 when they had Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor), and back in the final for the first time in 47 years.

Now, after losing back-to-back games in Phoenix and trailing 2-0 in the best-of-seven, the Bucks are happy to return home for a pair of games, needing probably to win twice to get back in contention. And so now it’s their hungry fans’ time to light the spark so badly needed after Thursday night‘s 118-108 defeat before 16,583 rowdy fans.

This followed the 118-108 win in game one when the Phoenix fans swung orange towels all around them.

Yes, the Suns are closer then ever to a first NBA title. So is 16-year veteran point guard Chris Paul as he runs the show after falling short to hoist the trophy numerous times. And falling in with him are teammates Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton and Joe Crowder.

They combined to piece together precision offense and some shutdown defense that offset a frantic effort by Milwaukee standout Gianni Antetokounmpo. Not only did he score the game-high 42 points and bring down 13 rebounds, but he often screamed at his teammates at time outs.

But Antetokounmpo had his own problems that included converting only 11 of 18 foul shots while the Phoenix fans counted down to 10, the time required to get the charity shot away. He did have 15 field goals in 22 attempts, but was only 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, and got little help from the other Bucks.

The Suns, meanwhile, picked up 23 points from Paul, and he handed out eight assists. He was helped along with a team-high 31 points from Booker, 27 from Bridges, 11 from the 6-foot-11 Crowder, who also took down 10 rebounds, one less than 7-foot teammate Ayton, who added 10 points.

While Milwaukee appeared frustrated at time, Phoenix just relied on its crowd and its teamwork. The fans arrived with signs, chants, and whatever else was missing through the years. Twice before were the Suns in the final, losing in six games in both 1976 and 1993 after twice losing the first two games.

But now they are at least only two wins from hoisting the trophy. It is fortunate that they got Paul back after he was sidelined for three starts with a knee injury, but it was certainly unfortunate for the Bucks.

It was the crafty Paul who directed the precision offense? It came with the first half winding down and the home side preferring to just move the ball around instead of letting the visitors get any kind of momentum.

Paul engineered it. He first passed to Crowded, who passed it to Bridges, and back to Paul, who tossed it again to Crowder, and when it came back to Bridges, he found Ayton inside, who scored and made the free throw with 14.9 left and now with a 56-45 lead after trailing 29-26 following the opening quarter.

The lead remained in Phoenix’s care. It was up by 16 midway through the third quarter and dwindled down to five when Antetokounmpo put on a one-man show when the fourth quarter began. But again, Paul and company took care of the ball, never panicked, and appeared confident until the final buzzer when head coach Monty Williams had already inserted his reserves.

Now his team travels to Milwaukee for Sunday’s game three. The Bucks do pack them in both their arena and outside in a jammed Deer Plaza. Now they host the NBA finals for the first time since 1974.

“We know it gets rowdy in Milwaukee,” Booker said, “but I think we’re ready for it.”

Booker tossed in seven 3s to lead the way in making good on the Suns’ 20-of-40 tries. But the Bucks had to rely mainly on 6-10 standout Antetokounmpo, for Khris Middleton was only 5-for-16 from the field and Jrue Holiday tallied 17, but hit on only 7-of-21 attempts.

But Antetokounmpo did turn in 40 all-star minutes after missing two games with a hyperextended left knee. Now he needs to orchestrate two wins before heading back to Phoenix in danger of watching the Suns celebrate for the first time.