The Phoenix Suns begin a crucial six-game swing through the East on Tuesday night when they take on the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Phoenix enters on a two-game winning streak after the Suns defeated the red-hot Charlotte Hornets 111-99 on Sunday, coming within two points of a loss to the Chicago Bulls from winning five in a row.
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 30 points and 10 assists against Charlotte. Collin Gillespie and Jalen Green each added 24 points, while Rasheer Fleming scored 16 off the bench.
On defense, the Suns rose to the challenge of the Hornets’ offense, holding Charlotte to 33% shooting from deep and forcing 11 turnovers.
“That’s how we have to be, that’s how we’ve been successful on defense. Our physicality, pushing it to the legal limit, and then having great concentration on every possession,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “That attack is really good. We accepted the challenge tonight.”
Booker leads the Suns, who now have more wins this season than in all of last season, with averages of 24.9 points and 6.1 assists per game.
“It starts from day one. Obviously, there have been a lot of changes since then. We came in with renewed energy,” Booker said. “We work, we work together, keeping the main thing the main thing. We’re all on the same page, it’s fun to participate.”
Milwaukee will end a long streak of home games, a discouraging streak. The Bucks lost 130-91 to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, their fifth loss in their last six games, all by more than 18 points.
This time, the Bucks were shorthanded, as they were without Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf), Kyle Kuzma (back) and Kevin Porter Jr. (knee). Without these key pieces, the Bucks’ offense failed to create rhythm or consistency.
“A lot of those were turnovers and bad shots. I think we didn’t live up to their physicality tonight,” Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers said. “We did not execute our attack well. It is one thing to have injuries, and another very different thing is to have injuries in all the teams that facilitate the attack.”
Bobby Portis and Cam Thomas came off the bench to lead Milwaukee with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Only 34 of Milwaukee’s points came from the starting five.
Part of that starting five, Myles Turner, has struggled lately, scoring eight points or less in five straight games and grabbing four rebounds or less in four straight games. In total, in his first season since signing with the Bucks, he averaged just 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Antetokounmpo and Kuzma are listed as available on a day-to-day basis and could likely play Tuesday, though questions remain over whether the Bucks will neutralize Antetokounmpo given their diminished chances of qualifying for the play-in. Porter Jr. is listed as out.
Phoenix is without some key pieces, such as second-leading scorer Dillon Brooks (broken hand) and 7-foot-1 center Mark Williams (broken foot). Jordan Goodwin (calf) and Grayson Allen (knee) are listed as daily casualties.
This is the first meeting between these teams this season, and there will be one more in Phoenix. The two-game series has been split over the past two seasons, with each team winning at its home stadium.
–Field level media