Sharpshooting Bucks Take Down Defenseless Suns, 140-129
The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns 140-129 on Sunday even though the Suns were at full strength while the Bucks were missing two-time regular season MVP (2019, 2020) Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was a late precautionary scratch due to lingering hamstring soreness. Damian Lillard scored a game-high 31 points on 10-19 field goal shooting while passing for a game-high/career-high tying 16 assists. Bobby Portis matched Lillard with 31 points, shooting 13-20 from the field and also snaring a game-high 10 rebounds. Portis made all five of his three point shots. Khris Middleton returned to the lineup after missing 16 games with an ankle injury, and he had a major impact, scoring 22 points and dishing for seven assists in just 25 minutes. The Bucks set season highs for three point field goals made (24) and points scored in a half (82) while also tying the NBA record for three point field goals made in a half (18). Their 140 points is the most that they have scored since Doc Rivers took the head coaching reins shortly before the All-Star Game.
Bradley Beal led the Suns with 28 points while passing for seven assists, Grayson Allen added 25 points and a team-high eight assists, and Devin Booker had 23 points, a team-high nine rebounds, and six assists. Kevin Durant entered the game needing 20 points to surpass Shaquille O'Neal on the all-time scoring list, but he finished with just 11 points on 4-10 field goal shooting, though he did have a strong floor game (nine rebounds, four assists, three steals, two blocked shots, and just one turnover in a game-high 41 minutes).
This rematch of the 2021 NBA Finals did not feel like a rematch not only because of Antetokounmpo's absence but also because Booker is the only player or coach remaining from Phoenix' 2021 squad. It is amazing how quickly things change in the NBA, even for franchises that have been successful.
Hubie Brown provided the color commentary for ABC. His most recent telecast was last Sunday when the Philadelphia 76ers beat the New York Knicks 79-73 in the NBA's lowest scoring game since 2016. Brown's pregame remarks focused on Middleton and Durant. Brown noted that even though Middleton is only averaging around 14 ppg this season he is a proven 20 ppg scorer who can also play the point guard role during crunch time minutes. Brown commented that Durant is so good that he makes scoring look easy, and he pointed out how Durant uses his length to create space to launch uncontested shots.
Lillard is having a good season by conventional standards, but his numbers are below his career averages in several key categories, including PPG, FG%, and 3FG%. He played poorly in his previous two games, scoring just 27 points on 9-28 (.321) field goal shooting, but he understood the assignment with Antetokounmpo out of action: score efficiently while creating easy scoring opportunities for his teammates. Lillard scored nine first quarter points, but even more importantly he had six assists and no turnovers. Portis led the Bucks with 12 first quarter points on 5-5 field goal shooting.
The Suns jumped out to a 9-3 lead, but by the end of the first quarter the Bucks led 39-36 and they never trailed again. The Bucks shot 15-24 from the field (.625) in the first quarter and the Suns were not far behind that blazing pace, shooting 14-25 (.560). Brown called the Bucks a "slow defensive recovery team," and added, "You can see early in this game that the defensive end off of the dribble is going to be a problem for Milwaukee."
Brown amplified his pregame comments about Middleton's importance to the Bucks, calling him "A joy to watch," and praising him as a third scoring option who is comfortable being the second or even first option in clutch situations, which takes pressure off of Antetokounmpo and Lillard.
Brown, who made his mark as a defensive-minded coach, described the defense in this game as so bad "it's almost outrageous," specifically noting that on many plays a defender was not within four or five feet of the shooter. Brown pointed out that the Bucks' strategy was to trap Booker and Durant out front while playing zone behind the traps.
After Portis made a three pointer from the left wing in the second quarter, he shouted, "That’s for you, Hubie!" Portis gave a similar shoutout to Brown during Milwaukee's 119-98 win over Philadelphia on Sunday February 25. Brown loves Portis' game, and it is nice to see a player who is far too young to remember most of Brown's coaching and broadcasting careers demonstrating such respect for one of the legends of the game.
The Bucks led 82-60 at halftime, mainly because of their record-setting three point shooting, led by Portis' 25 points on 10-13 field goal shooting (including 5-5 from three point range). Brown mentioned that the Bucks shot 2-2 from the free throw line during the first half, and said that this is because the Bucks were "shooting at will in wide open areas." The Suns' defense was so bad that they were not even close enough to the Bucks to foul them, let alone hinder or stop them.
Brown said that the Suns should approach the second half with the mindset of cutting 4-5 points off of the lead every six minutes. The Suns stuck to that blueprint quite well, helped by the nature of the NBA today: the three point shot is a high variance play,
and overuse of the three point shot is a major reason that NBA games so
often feature big leads followed by big comebacks. In this game, the
Bucks led by as many as 25 points in the second half before the Suns
used a 32-13 rally to trim the margin to 100-94 with 1:30 remaining in
the third quarter; in less than eight minutes, the Suns transformed a
blowout into a potential win. The Bucks quickly built their lead back up
to 15 points, but had to withstand one more Phoenix surge that trimmed
the deficit to 122-115 with 6:17 left in the fourth quarter. The Suns made their run by utilizing a smaller, more aggressive lineup featuring Durant as the only player taller than 6-7.
Although the Suns outscored the Bucks 35-31 in the fourth quarter, overall this season the Suns have been awful in the final stanza, posting the fifth worst fourth quarter scoring margin in NBA history and blowing 10 fourth quarter leads. Brown attributes the Suns' fourth quarter struggles this season to high turnovers and low field goal percentage.
After the Bucks sealed the win in the closing moments, Brown's broadcast partner Dave Pasch noted that Lillard is the first player in Bucks' history to have at least 30 points and at least 15 assists in the same game. Brown replied that he was fortunate to coach great Milwaukee players including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and Bob Dandridge. Brown said that it is important to remind younger viewers that Robertson averaged 30-10-10 in his first five NBA seasons. "That is the impression he made," Brown emphasized. Brown is correct, and in fact Robertson averaged 30.4 ppg, 10.7 apg, 10.0 rpg in his first six NBA seasons. Brown respects the players in today's NBA and he praises Lillard's game when warranted, but Brown did a great job of making it clear that one 30-15 game is not equivalent to averaging 30-10-10 for several seasons in a row.
This game reflected the strengths and weaknesses that both teams have displayed throughout the season: the Bucks are potentially an offensive powerhouse, but they need Antetokounmpo on the court to provide paint presence at both ends of the court; the Suns' Durant-Booker-Beal trio can be lethal on offense, but collectively the Suns provide little defensive resistance.
Labels: Bobby Portis, Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Hubie Brown, Kevin Durant, Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns
posted by David Friedman @ 2:46 AM
12 Comments:
This game really proved to me what I had felt about the limited Suns games I've watched. (Bucks supporter here).
The Suns aren't a team on either side of the ball.
What worked on offense was good offball movement and cutting, getting to the rim when Brook was sitting (and when he had to guard KD away from the basket). The issue was that Booker and KD were not in on that style, instead shooting further and further from the basket as the game went on. Beal was the standout. Unfortunately, niether of the other two stars were willing to match or feed Beal when he was getting to the rim. Most of the best action was between Grayson Allen and Beal.
When Booker and KD were taking shots, the lead for the Bucks was growing, neither guy willing to adjust their game to what the Bucks defense was giving up. Against most of the West, who have good individual and team defenses, that just won't cut it.
On defense. The Suns were clueless beyond doubling Dame and letting Nurc roam the paint. When KD was at the 5, the Bucks hunted the rim. When Dame was getting doubled, the Bucks found the open shots and couldn't miss. When it was clear that the Bucks were going to be hot, nothing changed from the Suns. In fact, they kept Nurkic off the court, I think in hopes of creating the offense needed to close the gap. While it looked like it might work in the late 3rd-early 4th, you could see the Suns effort slip when the Bucks started hitting the open shots again.
Funny to put defenseless Suns but it is a high scoring game. I think both of the team are defenseless.
Giving away more than 129 points is also defenseless.
Anonymous:
I agree that the Suns seem to lack cohesiveness, particularly on defense; on offense, their high talent level enables them to survive the lack of cohesiveness, but on defense the lack of cohesiveness is very problematic.
As for the Bucks, I am not completely sold on them being a legit championship contender this season. All of that three point bombing looked great yesterday versus Phoenix, but relying on such a high variance style of play is less likely to be successful against elite playoff teams in a seven game series.
JaNotFineInTheWest:
The Suns gave up record setting numbers for first half scoring and most three point field goals made in a half, and despite their potent offense they still lost by double figures. I think that my headline accurately describes what happened. I have expressed my misgivings about the Bucks in other articles, but over the course of this season--and in this game, without Giannis--they have demonstrated that they are a better, more consistent team than the Suns.
I think we expected the defense to be rough, especially since their main roleplayers are sharpshooters instead of 3/D guys. Royce being the one exception. What we did expect of the Suns was that they would be in games like this... except they would be the historic offensive team. Honestly, it shows that the pressure really is on KD, Book, and Beal to deliver because the defense is bad enough that one of those guys having a poor scoring night puts them way behind.
The 2 things that keeps the Bucks a contender in my biased opinion are:
1. Their record against teams over .500. They show up in most of the big games and play up to their competition. They also play down to their competition at times, but that seems slightly better after those Charlotte games. Pre ASB Bucks were getting scrambled by much worst competition.
2. The closing ability of Giannis and Dame. Those guys are just on another level in the 4th quarter this year. In tight playoff games so much comes down to the team with the better closer (singular) and the Bucks have two elite closers. Ultimately, this is one of the few edges that they have on the Celtics if it comes down to that matchup.
Anonymous:
The Suns' fourth quarter offense is historically bad, which is disappointing and surprising for a team featuring the Durant-Booker-Beal trio plus a group of solid role players.
The Bucks are playing better under Rivers, but we will see how they look in the playoffs when when they have to play a steady diet of good teams. I trust Giannis as a playoff closer, but I don't trust Lillard as a playoff closer. Yes, Lillard has hit some famous logo threes but his overall playoff resume is nothing to write home about, particularly for a player who is touted as being one of the 75 greatest players ever.
The Suns are a prime example of why a team should never stockpile a bunch of offensive talent that doesn’t complement each other and then just expect everything to fall into place. This is exactly what the Nets tried to do and Durant forced his way into a situation that is starting to look like a carbon copy of the same situation he fled. Durant had some legitimate gripes with the Warriors, and I certainly understand why someone wouldn’t want to be teammates with Draymond Green, but had he stayed with the Warriors instead of team hopping he would probably have at least three rings by now.
Michael:
I agree with you that it does not work to stockpile raw talent without having a plan for how all of that talent will work together. The Suns' other issue is that they are awful defensively.
It is amusing to see the extent to which so many commentators keep trying to convince us (or themselves) that the Lakers, Suns, and Warriors are so dangerous. Charles Barkley is one of the few commentators who tells it like it is: specifically, he keeps saying that the Lakers and Warriors stink, and he is right. Richard Jefferson made similar comments last night, but Barkley and Jefferson are rare exceptions.
We have seen these teams for almost a full season now, and they are struggling just to qualify for the Play-In Tournament. I believe that as the years pass, what Miami did last year--vaulting to the NBA Finals from the Play-In Tournament--will prove to be a rare exception.
Durant finds reasons to be unhappy--or at least dissatisfied--regardless of his circumstances. He and Westbrook almost beat the Warriors, and one would think that he would have embraced that challenge--but instead he joined the Warriors. He won two Finals MVPs with the Warriors but then soured on that situation. His choice of partners in Brooklyn--Harden and Irving--is interesting, to say the least, and that experiment did not last long. How long will Durant be content in Phoenix?
The Lakers/Warriors don't stink. They're both above average teams. The West is brutal again this year. But, they aren't as good as most people think they are.
Few players today are embracing 'the challenge', it's not just Durant. Durant stayed with OKC for 9 years. I doubt any of these very top guys are staying that long if they don't win, unless they feel the talent around them is still sufficient. It'll be interesting to see how long Doncic stays. His cast really isn't that good.
Durant's status among the all-time greats greatly enhanced after winning 2 titles with GS and also showing everyone just how much better he is than Curry, though overall with Curry winning 2x without Durant and 4x total, it's hard to put Durant over Curry on the all-time player ranking list now. If Durant stayed with OKC and likely doesn't win any titles and is at 0 titles currently, his all-time status wouldn't be nearly as high as it is today.
Anonymous:
The Lakers are ninth and the Warriors are 10th out of 15 teams in the West. "Stink" is hyperbole, but the reality is that (1) they stink relative to being legit championship contenders and (2) they are both worse than more than half of the teams in the West, so by definition they are not "above average."
I agree with you that overall Durant enhanced his legacy by winning two titles and two Finals MVPs with the Warriors. As a basketball fan--and not having a particular rooting interest for either team--I would have preferred that he embraced the challenge as opposed to going to GS.
I wouldn't expect the Lakers/Warriors to do much in the playoffs if they actually make the playoffs, but almost everyone would've said the same about the Lakers/Heat last year, and both those teams made the final 4. The Lakers still have James/Davis and the Warriors still have Curry.
I guess I don't really care that much that Durant joined the Warriors. Most of the stars of today and in NBA history have ended up playing with other stars. I probably didn't prefer it though, at least from the standpoint of seeing which team/players in the league were really in the best under somewhat normal circumstances. GS with Durant basically just had a monopoly on the league for 2 years(though barely made it out of the West 1 of those years), would've been 3 years if Durant and/or Thompson stayed healthy in 2019. It's great to see a phenomenal in action, but it's mostly not great in every other way.
Anonymous:
The Heat had been the top seed in the East the year before, reaching the ECF, so they were not an ordinary Play-In team. Likewise, the Lakers have two Top 75 players but they underachieved during the regular season and then caught some fortunate breaks before the Nuggets beat the brakes off of them in the WCF. This year's Lakers, Suns, and Warriors do not look like they are capable of making extended playoff runs unless they benefit from a lot of good fortune.
Durant had every right to join the Warriors. He was a free agent, and he made his choice. As a fan, I don't like his choice but I don't begrudge him the right to make that choice. I distinguish between what he did--and even what LeBron did the first time he left Cleveland--and what Harden, Lillard and others did by forcing their way out while under contract.
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