Can a team with 50 wins make the most of a loss?
I’m willing to listen to the argument after the Phoenix Suns lost in Milwaukee against the Bucks 132-122 on Sunday, leading most of the game despite the absence of Chris Paul (right thumb tear), Devin Booker (health and safety protocols) ) or Cam Johnson (right quadriceps contusion).
“The wrestling that we show night and night, regardless of who is playing, is something I am proud of,” said head coach Monty Williams.
The Suns got a lot of input from all nine eligible players.
DeAndre Ayton scored a season-high 30 points on 14-of-19 from the field while also finding his best mid-range float and bounce spots.
“A lot of teams are used to me rolling, but I just find empty spaces on the court and use them to the best of my ability, but quickly,” he said, noting that the short roll “really works” for him right now.
Phoenix had 33 assists as a team and Cam Payne had a team-best eight with a good offense for Paul for the third straight game and also scored 23 points. Jay Crowder also made seven of his own assists with 19 points, and it was Landry Shamet’s best game of the year with 17 points and five assists.
Mikal Bridges became the fourth Suns starter to have at least five assists, including six with 14 points in the second half. Aaron Holiday had eight points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals off the bench, while Bismack Biyombo’s solid defense led to two steals. JaVale McGee’s five points and Torrey Craig’s six more were an added advantage provided by the reserves.
“That’s who we are,” Williams said of the effort. “Who takes the field or whose kit is on doesn’t matter, but there’s always a style of play, hardness and toughness.”
All this is more than enough to win. And it was. The Suns shot 53.8% from the field and hit 14 triples, but the Bucks were good too, slightly outperforming the Phoenix with 54.0% efficiency and 15 long passes.
There were two areas where the Bucks won the game.
The first was a rebound where Milwaukee got a +21 lead and scored 14 points on the offensive glass alone.
“They got ahead of us,” Crowder said. “The same as in the final. We need to learn from this and get better.”
This helped the Bucks gain even more advantage at the foul line, where they were 23 of 29 against the Suns’ 8 of 11 mark.
The Suns lost several times, which they felt in the Finals last year, and Williams didn’t appreciate that on Sunday given how strong his team was.
“Our guys tried their best and the model we have to deal with in terms of free throws is just outdated,” he said. “29-11. And in six games of the Final, Giannis (Antetokounmpo) made 85 free throws. We had one more shot than they had in paint.
“That’s where the disappointment for me (is). I tell our guys to continue to walk in the paint and play physical basketball. That’s what struggle is.”
Williams, in a separate reply to an unrelated question, returned to this discrepancy, noting how “it’s hard to take the same pill every time we play against this team” before saying that his group needs to get over it in areas like rebounding. and late game clutch. game without Booker and Paul.
Crowder mentioned that sometimes you don’t benefit from officials’ hesitation, and that’s what it is. Ayton said it’s out of their control and they don’t focus on it.
“I can’t judge that, man,” Payne said. “We are playing a game there. We must find ways to win the game. It doesn’t matter what the game is called. We just have to figure it out.
— I mean, we’re on the road. It happens sometimes. But hey, we gave ourselves a chance in the end. That’s all we could ask for.”
Phoenix was on the front line for most of the day. He hardly slipped, but despite this, the Bucks did a great job. Even when the Suns had a 10-point lead, the Bucks kept the game within one or two possessions throughout the game.
The Bucks effectively supported this by shutting down neighborhoods. They had a 9-2 score in the last 86 seconds of the first half and then a 5-0 spurt to end the remaining 96 seconds in the third quarter. Most teams would be 15+ behind, but Milwaukee isn’t most teams.
As the fourth quarter approached, the tidal wave of the Bucks seemed inevitable. This wave came, but it was actually from the Sun. It was Milwaukee who went with the flow and tried to grab everything they could.
In the five minutes since the 10:47 mark, the Suns have scored eight of their 11 goals. However, every time they scored, the Bucks either stopped or scored on their own. And when the Suns had stops, the Bucks did too.
Jordan Nwora 3 to Milwaukee with 5:11 left ended this incredible back and forth battle to lift the Bucks by two until they got back up to speed.
Mikal Bridges got a basket for the Suns before Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday hit a backed three. The next time, Crowder scored his own, and then Milwaukee’s Middleton made it to the basket for two.
Four minutes of this tennis match occurred with Antetokounmpo on the bench with five fouls. And the Finals MVP, in fact, earned just two of his 19 points in the second half.
Crowder then hit another treble with 3:13 left and after Nvora missed one for himself, Antetokounmpo defended it and it resulted in Nvora’s 18-footer.
After establishing themselves in this seesaw battle for over nine minutes of the fourth quarter, the Suns somehow didn’t lose to a Bucks team that continued to convert hard shots that Phoenix defended well. The Suns were one point behind after entering the quarterfinals with the same deficit.
At this point, the carpet was finally pulled out from under the Suns. Payne once again played a great game, but also made several key mistakes late. He flipped the ball with 2:35 left, Jrue Holiday got free throws for Milwaukee on the other end, and then Antetokounmpo blocked Payne’s shot at the rim.
Antetokounmpo earned a foul on more free throws on Milwaukee’s next offensive possession, and Bridges’ pass allowed Middleton to transition and get two points on the foul line. This sequence of events put the Bucks in first place, six points ahead at 1:25 on the clock.
Middleton was fourth with 18 of 44 points in the quarter. He closed the store with a middle distance jumper at 51 seconds and his fifth triple the next time the Bucks had the ball.
Holiday added 17 points in the fourth quarter to his 24 on the day, meaning that Middleton and Holiday together scored 35 of the Bucks’ 41 points in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee hit six triples in the final frame.