With some key guys out, the Milwaukee Bucks undoubtedly played their best game thus far in Vegas but lost 95-88 to the Phoenix Suns. Yet again, Brayden Burries starred for the Bucks with 23 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals, while Khaman Maluach led the Suns with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks.
Game Recap
I expected a bunch of guys in street clothes for this one, given it was a back-to-back—and there were some in Cormac Ryan and Kasparas Jakucionis—but luckily, Brayden Burries and Nate Ament suited up; Kam Jones also got his first minutes in Vegas. The first quarter was low-scoring and even throughout. Koa Peat was throwing his big body around for the Suns, while Burries and Pete Nance were doing most of the work early for the Bucks. Milwaukee went on a 5-2 run to close the quarter via a Burries three and a majestic layup by my fellow countryman Luke Travers to grab a 22-19 lead after one.
The Suns had a great start to the second quarter, with the 7’2” second-year man Khaman Maluach asserting his dominance on the interior; before long, Phoenix had grabbed a 30-26 edge. The Bucks tried to make Ament more of a primary ball-handler, and it wasn’t pretty, as he turned it over a few times after getting outmuscled. Koby Brea—who had been struggling mightily through Summer League—nailed his second three to extend the Suns’ lead to nine, 35-26, about halfway through the second, but that was immediately matched by a transition bomb from Ament to open his account. The Bucks made a few charges to reduce the deficit to ~six points, but the Suns’ Darius Brown made two timely threes to stretch it back out each time. Finally, the run stuck, with Markovic and Burries leading an end-of-quarter sprint to have the Bucks down just one, 45-44, at the half.
Both teams were trading blows early in the second half, with Burries nailing a step-back three over his college teammate Koa Peat to open the third—joking with Peat after he made it—followed by another Darius Brown triple. Then, the floodgates finally opened for Bogi, who nailed his third and fourth triples of the game after struggling all week—Bucks up 53-51 in the opening minutes. Some great flashes by Ament followed: he took the first bump from the more experienced Brea but powered through to get fouled under the hoop; then, he nailed his second transition three of the night a possession later, followed by a strong drive to the hoop to draw another foul; Bucks up 60-57 with six minutes left in the third. The next few minutes were very uneventful, but with Burries, Bogi, Jones, Nance, and Ament all off the floor to end the quarter, the Suns closed on a 12-0 run to lead 69-60 after three.
BJ Boston’s personal 5-0 run to start the quarter, followed by a Kam Jones’ and-one, had the Bucks down just four in the early stages. Minutes later, Boston answered Brea’s triple with another bomb of his own, Nance nailed the floater, and we were all tied up at 75 with just over six minutes left. The Suns went on a 6-0 run, but the Bucks answered right back with a 5-0 run. Blow for blow. Rasheer Fleming nailed the roll-replace wing three, and Burries came down for the fancy and-one around Maluach. Some great on-ball pressure from Ament forced Peat into a turnover, leading to a transition Euro-step by Burries to put Milwaukee up 1 as Phoenix called a timeout; the Bucks were hyped. Unfortunately, the Suns responded with an 8-2 burst—including two massive threes by Brea—to take a 92-87 lead late, and that was the game.
Stat That Stood Out
Koby Brea’s six triples really hurt the Bucks. Brea had struggled mightily before this game, and they let him feel good about himself.
