Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for while hosting Phoenix Suns

Rise of the Phoenix

After going through a tough December, which was marked by an eight-game losing streak midway through the month, the Suns have been able to turn the ship around in the right direction.

Granted, they’re still in choppy waters as they’re 7-8 since the turn of the new year after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 111-107 defeat on Friday night, but it’s certainly better than how their 2019 ended. And now there may be added motivation for the Suns beyond trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 season and finish with a winning record since the 2013-14 campaign.

Suns star guard Devin Booker was among the biggest, if not the most egregious, snubs for this year’s All-Star Game as he’s turning in a career year by averaging 27.1 points per game on .510/.364/.919 shooting splits, 6.4 assists per game and 4.0 rebounds per game.

After Suns general manager James Jones aired out his feelings regarding Booker’s exclusion not long after the reserves were announced Thursday night, the fifth-year guard didn’t hold back on his disappointment of not making the midseason classic as Kellan Olson of Arizona Sports relayed:

"“It was always a goal of mine (to be an All-Star), but it just reproves the point that the NBA is different than the game that I fell in love with at the beginning — of all the best players in the All-Star game — growing up watching that,” he said. “And now it’s an entertainment-, drama-, political-filled league. “But we’re a part of it now. It pays well so I guess we should be quiet about it.”"

Booker will have to wait another year to fulfill his dream of becoming an All-Star, but he and the team overall still have time to break the Suns’ playoff drought.