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.
Second takeaway from loss to Phoenix Suns — Milwaukee Bucks undoubtedly missed Jrue Holiday
Jrue Holiday missed his second consecutive game on Wednesday night after entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols several days ago. Holiday has been nothing short of fantastic with the Bucks this season, and it goes without saying that they missed his defensive presence against the Phoenix Suns.
One could make the case that Phoenix has one of the best backcourts in the league with the combination of Chris Paul and Devin Booker. With their premier guard defender sidelined, the Bucks had no plan B to utilize in slowing this top-tier tandem down.
Booker, who has always been a thorn in Milwaukee’s side, was scorching hot all night as he finished the contest with 30 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Paul followed closely with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting himself as the 35-year-old clocked in a vintage performance against the Bucks. These two were too much to handle for the Bucks and outings like this one showcase just how important Holiday is to this team.
Holiday is reportedly not traveling with the team right now as they have two games left on their current six-game road swing. If the guard remains out for those two games, which seems feasible, the Bucks will once again have to endure their challenges defending opposing backcourts. A few key names that the Bucks will see in these upcoming games are Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley Jr., and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, several top-tier players at their position.
Without Jrue in the lineup, Milwaukee’s defense, particularly in the backcourt, gets turned down a notch, and they will be tested in the coming days.
Third takeaway from loss to Phoenix Suns — Giannis Antetokounmpo’s big night not enough for the Milwaukee Bucks
With Holiday out, someone would have to step up and make up for his missing 16 points per game, and that person was Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two-time MVP turned in his best effort of the season for the Bucks, doing everything he could to keep the ship afloat until the final buzzer.
Giannis scored a season-high 47 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the floor while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out five assists. The Greek Freak had the opportunity to win the game for Milwaukee at the buzzer with a mid-ranger at the top of the key, but unfortunately, he just could not get it to fall. Despite the loss, this herculean performance by Antetokounmpo deserves praise, particularly looking at his numbers from the free-throw line.
Antetokounmpo was practically living at the line Wednesday night by shooting an astounding 21 attempts and connecting on 17 of them. After some grueling shooting pains early on, Giannis has shown improvement from the line as the season has progressed and is currently shooting 73.7 percent during Milwaukee’s recent 5-1 stretch.
Free throw shooting has been a prominent flaw of his for the past several years, and it has only worsened as he is currently shooting the worst percentage of his career at 61.6 on 9.7 attempts per game. If Giannis can build off this recent consistent shooting from the line, then he only makes this team much better, not just himself.
Overall, it was a tough loss for the Milwaukee Bucks, but they will have no time to sulk as they are set to square off against the surging Utah Jazz Friday night.