Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Win Over Phoenix Suns
By Reid Mueller
The Milwaukee Bucks returned to the win column on Sunday, beating the 18-win Phoenix Suns in an up and down affair.
The Milwaukee Bucks bounced back from their loss to the Utah Jazz, with a win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. As is to be expected by now, they didn’t do it the easy way, though.
The first quarter was hard fought and slow moving. Giannis Antetokounmpo received a technical foul for shoving rookie forward Marquese Chriss after some incidental contact on a drive to the basket. Khris Middleton added an open three, and a Kobe-esque turn around jumper from the short corner. The Bucks ended the quarter down two points, 23-21.
Milwaukee was attacking from the post much more than normal. The Suns don’t have the pieces to handle Giannis in the paint, and Khris Middleton will forever love the turn around jumper in the Jason Kidd era.
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The second quarter started with Michael Beasley rattling off a quick nine points off the bench in the first three minutes of the quarter. Greg Monroe complemented the Beas scoring threat with two back to the basket short hook shots to give him four early second quarter points.
The play of Beasley and Monroe gave the Bucks a nine-point lead with six minutes to go in the quarter. After Beasley went to the bench, the Suns would go on a 14-2 run to retake the lead. T.J. Warren finished the half with a buzzer beating floater to give Phoenix a five-point lead, 47-42.
The two teams combined for five technical fouls in a chippy first half. Giannis has scuffled with Chriss in each of the teams two matchups. Young players trying to make a name for themselves are already circling Giannis on their calendar.
The second half started off similarly to the first. Both teams were struggling to move the ball around smoothly, largely relying on isolation basketball. The Bucks would go on a nice run to end the quarter led by Malcolm Brogdon and Moose, regaining the lead, 77-73 heading to the fourth. The Bucks outscored the Suns 35-26 in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was played evenly, with both teams scoring 23 points. Malcolm Brogdon continued his hot second half, leading the Bucks to the 100-96 win. The Bucks were up nine points with three minutes left in the quarter, when Jason Kidd gave Giannis his first rest of the half. The Bucks’ lead would fall to one point. But, Tony Snell would seal the deal with a corner three from a Brogdon kick out to take a four-point lead with 8.3 seconds left.
With the basic details out of the way, let’s take a closer look at some of the key takeaways from the game.