Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 125-124 loss to the Phoenix Suns

The Milwaukee Bucks‘ five-game win streak came to an end against the Phoenix Suns in a heartbreaking defeat Wednesday night.

Both teams battled it out until the closing seconds of regulation, but it was Phoenix that came out on top with a slight 125-124 victory. With their first loss in the month of February penciled in, the Bucks still occupy the Eastern Conference’s second seed with a 16-9 overall record.

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Still, this loss will sting for Milwaukee, given how everything played out during a turbulent 48 minutes of action. This was another potential measuring stick game for the Bucks, and seeing them come up just short tacks onto their list of issues in clutch time this season.

Nevertheless, the show must go on. Before the Bucks look to get back into the win column Friday night, here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s blunder against the Suns.

First takeaway from loss to Phoenix Suns — Milwaukee Bucks blow sizeable lead due to 3-point shooting

Early on, it appeared that the Bucks had secured firm control of this game. Getting everything they wanted offensively, the Bucks quickly built up a 16-point lead over Phoenix and were clearly in the driver’s seat.

However, a 3-point shooting onslaught from the red-hot Suns propelled a 20-2 run spanning between the third and fourth quarter. Shooting 5-of-5 from behind the arc in this span, all of the momentum shifted in Phoenix’s favor. The Bucks had zero answers to try and slow down these shooters, as they oftentimes do. It certainly did not help that Milwaukee’s league-leading offense went freezing-cold for several minutes, but the bigger story is Phoenix’s 3-point shooting.

That late run propelled the Suns to shoot 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) on the night from deep, another subpar performance by Milwaukee’s 3-point defense to add to the ever-growing list. Not to sound like a broken record, but if the Bucks plan to rewrite their postseason issues, these lights out shooting performances by their opponents must stop happening every other night.

It did not help either that the Bucks were without one of their premier defensive players in the backcourt to help stop the bleeding either.