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The Milwaukee Bucks were on the last leg of a five-game road trip when they took on the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. It promised to be an exciting game between two teams that could potentially meet in the 2024 NBA Finals. The game lived up to the hype with the superstars delivering as expected.
Despite playing without Damian Lillard, who is dealing with an ankle injury, the Bucks went toe-to-toe with the Suns. The visiting team took a 49-48 lead after the first 12 minutes of the game behind Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Devin Booker paced the Suns with 16 points while Kevin Durant added 14.
The third quarter was when the home team put a bit of a cushion against Milwaukee. Booker sizzled with 16 points in the period, helping the Phoenix Suns outscore the Bucks 31-24. Phoenix had the lead 79-73 and a little bit of momentum entering the final frame.
After Booker’s third-period explosion, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant took over in the fourth quarter. Beal had 12 points while Durant put on a show with 14 to squeeze the life out of the undermanned Milwaukee Bucks.
The Suns improved their record to 30-21 following the 114-104 win. Milwaukee dropped to 33-18 and is 1-4 since Doc Rivers took over from Adrian Griffin as coach.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Phoenix Suns game player stats
Milwaukee Bucks player stats
Doc Rivers used a nine-man rotation for the game against the Suns. The Bucks didn’t have Damian Lillard and had Khris Middleton for only eight minutes after injuring his ankle in the first quarter. Cameron Payne and Jae Crowder had extended minutes due to the aforementioned injuries to key players.
Crowder played the most minutes with 40 while Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
Phoenix Suns player stats
Suns coach Frank Vogel counted on his starters big-time against Milwaukee by playing them at least 32 minutes each. Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker took turns torching the Bucks while Jusuf Nurkic had a quietly impressive night.
Vogel went deep into his rotation by using 11 players for Tuesday’s matchup. Eric Gordon, Bol Bol and Drew Eubanks provided contributions coming off the bench.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Phoenix Suns game player ratings
Milwaukee Bucks player ratings
The Bucks, the losing team, unsurprisingly have several players with a negative net rating. Only Antetokounmpo, Beasley and Bobby Portis had positive advanced ratings versus the Suns.
Below are the rest of the Bucks' advanced stats:
Phoenix Suns game player ratings
Meanwhile, the Suns had every starter and two bench players getting positive ratings. Jusuf Nurkic’s +10 tops the team while Josh Okogie’s -11 is the worst among Phoenix’s players.
See here for the Suns' advanced ratings:
