The Phoenix Suns failed to overcome 24 made threes from the Milwaukee Bucks, losing 140-129. Hitting 18 threes in the first half — the most by any team in a half all-time- — the Bucks halted a Suns run in the fourth quarter, leaving them stunned and still searching for answers.
Bradley Beal became the true leader at point for the Suns, scoring 28 points and dishing out seven assists. The Suns as a team moved the ball well and as a team tallied 36 assists. Grayson Allen was a key contributor in ball movement and also hit six threes, but the Suns failed to get any contribution from Kevin Durant, finishing the game with only 11 points.
With his head down following every three that was made by the Bucks, in particular Bobby Portis Jr. who knocked down five threes and had 31 points, Durant was unable to find his stroke.
Game Flow
First Half
The Bucks who have struggled this year defensively with or without Giannis (worse without), had a hard time keeping up with the Suns on ball rotation. The Suns were able to move the ball, landing everyone a touch with high-percentage looks at the rim.
With Durant moving around screens, and Bradley Beal getting to the rim, the buckets were dropping early for the Suns. Capped off by Grayson Allen, who again was hot from three in the first quarter, leading the Suns with 12 points to the end of one.
On the other side, the Bucks were hitting every attempt from behind the arc. The defensive rotation on the perimeter for the Suns failed to compete at the high point of release, leaving the Bucks in rhythm and set on every attempt. The Bucks shot 50% (7-14) from three, led by Bobby Portis Jr. off the bench, scoring 12 points to the help Bucks carry a 39-36 lead into the second quarter.
Contest or not, Portis continued to school the Suns, hitting fade-away jumpers and wide-open threes from the top of the key. The Suns looked helpless on the defensive end, unable to keep up, and finding themselves down early to start the second quarter, 49-42.
The Portis fire has to be put out, & him going unaccounted for on a very modest Bucks break is not going to help
Subtle defensive lapses compiling early in this one, certainly fixable pic.twitter.com/hn7r9tj7sr
— Stephen PridGeon ☯️ (@StayTrueSDot3) March 17, 2024
Even Patrick Beverly had great looks around the rim, luckily it was Beverly, and he was unable to capitalize on the opportunities. The Suns' defense continued to look atrocious and almost worse on the offensive end, with Durant and Beal trying to navigate the double teams, the supporting cast was unable to knock down shots, and fumbled the ball at times.
The Suns were unable to find answers and were scrambling for attempts and stops at the defensive end. The Bucks could sense a lack of confidence in the Suns, and you could see it as well.
Hitting 18 threes, the Bucks held an 82-58 lead entering the half.
Second Half
The belief in any other player other than Allen was slim. Leadership on the defensive end started to show, but the Bucks managed to find second-chance points and Kris Middleton was countering every blow the Suns would throw to start the second half.
It wasn't until halfway through the third quarter when we saw the lead for the Bucks dip to 10 points and the Suns were riding high on Allen's back. Draining three after three, Allen gave the Suns life. The intensity was back on the defensive end for the Suns, closing out on the perimeter and running hard through screens.
Beal stood out as the true leader on the defensive end and offensively, he was slowly rebuilding everyone's confidence. Finding Eric Gordon as the hot player to end the quarter, the Suns were able to stay within striking distance to end the third.
The Suns were down by 15 entering the fourth, 109-94 after Lillard was able to drain a buzzer-beating three from long distance.
It was clear that the Suns had to ride Beal to finish the end of the game, with Booker missing the emotion and the drive to help bring the Suns back. Durant managed to gain more attraction from the refs during timeout conversations about non-foul calls than he did with the bottom of the net. The refs continued to miss calls and the Suns as a whole continued to release their frustration for a whistle.
With Durant and Beal waiting for calls, Royce O’Neale got busy, hitting big threes to cut the lead to seven with six minutes left in the game.
The Suns came within seven points, but the Bucks pulled away 140-129, in another let-down game by the Suns.
Up Next
Phoenix comes home to play the 76ers on Wednesday.
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2024-03-17 19:23:32Z
CBMiigFodHRwczovL3d3dy5icmlnaHRzaWRlb2Z0aGVzdW4uY29tLzIwMjQvMy8xNy8yNDEwMzk2NC9zdW5zLWJ1Y2tzLWZpbmFsLXNjb3JlLXBpbmNoLXN1bnMtZm9yLW5vdC13ZWFyaW5nLWdyZWVuLW9uLXN0LXBhdHR5cy1kYXktd2luLTE0MC0xMjnSAQA
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