The Phoenix Suns are playing like they have the luxury of time. At least that’s a good way to interpret their energy in the last two games.
But they don’t have time to both become the contender they should be and figure it all out while avoiding the play-in tournament. And a 140-129 loss Sunday to a Milwaukee Bucks team without star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was due to a maddening lack of urgency in Game 68 of the season.
Phoenix started the game getting what it wanted offensively with good pace, which likely lulled it into a false sense of security after Milwaukee’s look quality wasn’t as high. The Suns defense after this story of the first nine minutes relaxed enormously, continuing to allow formidable downward pressure from Damian Lillard to open 3 points elsewhere.
Bobby Portis was one of Milwaukee’s average to below average shooters getting space. As soon as he and his team got hot, Phoenix’s complete inability to adapt by chasing the Bucks off the line burned them. Portis scored 25 points in his first 10 minutes and Milwaukee hit a total of 15 triples with 3:30 left in the second quarter. Again, most of this was effort.
The Suns continued to stay in this haze to give up an 18-for-27 mark from 3 at halftime, compared to their own 3-for-13 mark to trail by 22. The Suns have no chance of winning more than 3 in a match. natural way that doesn’t seem forced. They clearly tried to do that in Friday’s slow win and overcompensated in a way that bogged down the offense. The only thing they can do is deny the number of 3s other teams get, but that normally starts with Phoenix’s poor ball defense requiring turnovers from shooters. It’s a compilation effect.
Anyway, these are all December adjustments. It’s mid-March. The play-in tournament begins four weeks from Tuesday. They are who they are now.
Suns head coach Frank Vogel broke the emergency glass he often uses in dark situations, taking out Jusuf Nurkic and going small. This change midway through the third quarter resulted in an immediate 11-0 score in less than two minutes to cut the deficit to 10. A nice push led by Bradley Beal got it down to six before a 9 -0 from Lillard. To end the quarter, Phoenix fell behind by 15 heading into the dreaded fourth quarter.
Another Beal-led push got it within seven before Milwaukee knocked down four 3s in two minutes and changed to counter that effort to stay within double digits, extending the lead to 14 as well as the dagger.
The Suns are now 6-7 since the All-Star break and their 29th loss of the year places them eighth in the Western Conference standings, one higher than the Sacramento Kings in sixth and tied with the Dallas Mavericks in seventh which they lost in the tiebreaker. has.
Lillard was the man all afternoon. His numbers are down this year and he certainly won’t be the all-around guy he was in Portland during his entire tenure in Milwaukee, but he’s still one of the best guards on the planet. He finished with 31 points and 16 assists. Portis also added 31 points.
Devin Booker and Kevin Durant didn’t have the usual high-end impact for the third straight game. Neither scored 25 points in any of those games.
Although the Suns’ last three outings have not resulted in positive results, this is yet another good performance from Beal. This bears repeating because of its importance and how he stays healthy to maintain this season-best pace and will continue to make a difference by bringing a dimension that Phoenix hasn’t had before. Beal’s line was 28 points and seven assists.
Due to a small roster for most of the second half and the continuation of a failed comeback, Durant played 41 minutes and Booker hit 40. Phoenix was playing its third game in four days but the margin was even thinner due to the quick turnaround to an afternoon game on Sunday.
The sky is blue, the grass is green and the Bucks scored 24 points off Phoenix’s 14 turnovers.
Milwaukee had a rare sight on its team without Antetokounmpo, as he was recently able to play with a left hamstring issue before being held out Sunday for just the third time this season. The Bucks improve to 3-1 in these contests. A boost was the return of Khris Middleton after missing 16 games with an injury suffered against the Suns in Phoenix on February 6. Middleton looked fresh with 22 points and seven assists.
