MILWAUKEE – The short-handed Phoenix Suns showed far more competitive spirit Tuesday night at Milwaukee after hardly exhibiting any in Sunday’s embarrassment against Houston.
Devin Booker led with his scoring, playmaking and leadership in responding to a subpar performance.
The Suns got key contributions from multiple players and fought back from as many as 22 points to put themselves in a position to win despite not having Kevin Durant (ankle), Bradley Beal (hamstring) or Royce O’Neale (illness), who was a late scratch.
Just one problem. Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Suns tried two on the ball, showed him a wall but had no answer for the two-time MVP in losing their fourth straight, 133-123, before a sellout crowd of 17,341 at Fiserv Forum in Suns coach Mike Budenholzer’s return game against the team he coached to an NBA title before being fired two seasons later in 2022-23.
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Antetokounmpo finished with 37 points and 11 assists as the Bucks (41-34) made history by shooting an all-time franchise-best 68.9% from the field. The victory ended a four-game losing skid.
Milwaukee connected on 17 of its 29 attempts from distance with Antetokounmpo, a 17.6% shooter from 3, hitting 2-of-4. Six Bucks made at least two threes with Ryan Rollins going 5-of-7 and Taurean Prince delivering on 4-of-5.
Rollins, a 40.4% shooter from 3, nailed a dagger 3 to give the Bucks a 127-120 lead with 69 seconds remaining in the game.
Booker posted a game-high 39 points to go with 11 assists to lead the Suns (35-41). Grayson Allen scored 23 points, going 6-of-13 from 3, in starting for Durant.
Two-way player Collin Gillespie added 18 points with a 4-of-8 effort on 3s while Tyus Jones shot 4-of-6 from deep in scoring 16 off the bench.
The Suns continue their three-game road trip Friday against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics (56-19), winners of nine straight who blasted the Suns by 30 points last week, 132-102 in Phoenix.
Here are takeaways from Tuesday’s loss. The Suns have to win their remaining six games just to finish .500 and avoid their first losing season since 2019-20.
Play-in update
The Suns now are a game-and-a-half behind Sacramento for the 10th seed and final play-in spot in the Western Conference. They trail Dallas by two games for ninth.
The Kings have the current head-to-head tiebreaker over the Suns. If Phoenix ends the regular season with a win over the Kings in Sacramento and both teams have the same record, the Suns will win the tiebreaker by having a better division record.
Sacramento (36-39) plays at Washington (16-59) on Wednesday. The Wizards have the second-worst record in the NBA.
The Suns have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mavs. Dallas (37-39) faces Atlanta (36-39) at home Wednesday. The Hawks are eighth in the East.
Bucks answer Phoenix 3s with 3s
Several of Phoenix’s 3s were timely ones that put pressure on the Bucks to answer.
More times than not, they did.
Of the 18 Phoenix made, Milwaukee answered seven of those with a 3.
First quarter:
Gillespie 3, Suns down 15-8. Brook Lopez 3 answer.
Second quarter:
Gillespie 3, Suns down 31-25. Antetokounmpo 3 answer.
Booker 3, fouled on play, made free throw. Suns down 34-28. Gary Trent Jr. 3 answer off Kyle Kuzma offensive rebound and assist.
Fourth quarter:
Gillespie 3, Suns down 104-97. Taurean Prince 3 answer with 7:09 left in the game.
Allen 3, Suns down 109-103. Kuzma 3 answer with 5:55 left in the game.
Allen 3, Suns down 124-120. Rollins 3 answer with 1:09 left in the game.
The Suns have struggled defending the 3 all season as they are 26th in the NBA in that category. Teams are shooting 36.8% against them from distance. Milwaukee did much better than that Tuesday.
Antetokounmpo definitely generated open looks, the Bucks made some tough ones, but Phoenix closed late on several as well and had miscommunication on others.
Giannis for MVP?
It appears to be a foregone conclusion that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to win his first MVP this season.
He leads the league in scoring at 32.9 points a game for the NBA’s best team. With seven games left, Oklahoma City is still in the running to win 70 games.
Only two teams have won at least 70 games. – the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72 wins) and 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (73 wins)
Michael Jordan won MVP in ’95-96. Stephen Curry took it in 2015-16.
Even if the Thunder fall short of 70 wins, Gilgeous-Alexander is the clear frontrunner to win it after finishing second in the voting last season to three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
Jokic is viewed as the only other real contender for the award. He’s averaging a triple double of 29.2 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists.
He’s never finished a season averaging a triple double. The Nuggets are third in the West, trailing Houston by 1½ games.
Any other year, he’s winning the award. Then again, Jokic might have become the victim of voter fatigue.
Antetokounmpo is still feeling the after-effects of that. He won back-to-back MVPs (2018-19, 2019-20) before winning an NBA championship.
Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.4 points on 60.2% shooting, 11.8 rebounds and six assists. What makes that even more impressive is everyone knows the two-time MVP invades the paint to score and teams still can’t stop him.
Yes, he’s more accurate from the midrange this season. He was even more accurate from 3 Tuesday, but he has a permanent residence in the lane and lives rent free in there.
You double, he finds the open man. You don’t, he’s all the way to the rim for the high-percentage finish.
The difference? The Bucks aren’t winning enough, especially not this season, Jokic has been that good and Joel Embiid had to get one.
OKC and Denver wouldn’t be championship contenders without Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic, but imagine the Bucks minus Antetokounmpo?
They’ve been down suspended Bobby Portis. They’ve been minus Damian Lillard as of late with a blood clot. They had lost four in a row before beating the short-handed Suns.
Thank Antetokounmpo for keeping the Bucks afloat. If the Bucks gets healthy, they’ll be a tough out in the postseason because they have the two-time MVP who should be in this season’s conversation, too.
What Suns said after loss
Budenholzer on return to Milwaukee: “I’ve always said it was a great five years in Milwaukee. I’m forever appreciative to the organization, to the players, to the fans here. People here were great to me. It’s tough to lose tonight. I want to keep the focus on my guys, my team, but I’ve said it a million times, five great years here.”
Booker on remainder of season: “We just need to string together some wins. No matter what the standings are or no matter what our record is, you’ve got to build good habits.”
Allen on defending Antetokounmpo: “Most of the possessions defensively, we were fighting and scrambling around. It’s tough to show a crowd on Giannis and then close out on 3-point shooters. It’s very difficult to do both successfully.”
Gillespie on comeback: “It’s tough. We put ourselves in a position to it make it a game at the end of the game, made a bunch of offensive plays and we just couldn’t get stops when we needed them.”
Jones on Antetokounmpo’s two made 3s: “You got to live with it. Not saying that he’s not capable of making that, but you’re looking at the numbers. You’re playing the, ‘What would we rather him do?’ and that’s probably what you’re going to choose to live with and he made the shot.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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