Milwaukee Bucks vs Phoenix Suns Preview (9pm Start Time CST)
Get the coffee rolling (or Energy Drink) and get ready to stay up late for a Tuesday Night Marquee NBA match-up. The game will be televised nationally on TNT. (9pm)
The (33-17) Milwaukee Bucks take on the (29-21) Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. The Bucks are coming off “diss-spiriting” loss to Utah Sunday night in Utah. For Milwaukee they just ran out of steam. They were on a back-to-back, they had a nice, emotional win Saturday night in Dallas and they just couldn’t hang with the Jazz in the 4th quarter.
The Suns will be “fully loaded” as Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant are all expected to play.
The Bucks are second in the NBA in scoring (123.7). They are a half a point per game away from leading the NBA (Indiana is averaging 124.2 points per game)
Phoenix is 12th in the NBA in team scoring. They average 117.3 points per game.
Vegas has the Bucks as 5 point underdogs with a 30% chance to win. It might simply come down to if Giannis plays. He is listed as a “game-time decision”.
Related: Check out the game’s betting preview here from Joe Hadawi
The Keys to a Milwaukee Bucks Win
Find the Hot Hand
Milwaukee only managed 13 points against the Jazz in the 4th quarters in Sunday’s loss.
13 points! 13 lousy points!
Tonight Milwaukee is going to need scoring, especially in the 4th quarter. You would think (and hope) Damian Lillard could lead the charge here.
In terms of finding the “hot hand”, Khris Middleton shot the ball really poorly at times against the Mavs on Saturday night (15 points, 5-15 shooting). So did Malik Beasley (3-9).
Jae Crowder looked “efficient” against the Mavs on Saturday. The former Sun was 4-6 from the field. You’d be shocked if he really did not get up for this game against his former team. The key for Milwaukee is to continue to figure out who to get the ball to who is going to sink the shot.
Related: Bucks vs Mavs Preview
Do a better job of rebounding the basketball
Milwaukee is 11th in the NBA in team rebounding. Against the Mavs the Bucks only had 36 rebounds. Dallas is not known as a good rebounding team. That is a battle you do not want to lose.
Milwaukee needs to control the glass and box out!
Against Utah the Bucks rebounded even worse. They only had 32 team rebounds (Utah had 52.) They were outrebounded by 20 boards! If you can control the glass you can control the tempo of the game. Milwaukee needs to do a better job of rebounding the basketball.
“Move your feet”- don’t reach
The Bucks committed 25 personal fouls against the Jazz. The team showed some signs, at times, of sloppy play. But it was better and the team defense was more energetic and efficient.
Right now the Bucks average 20 ½ team fouls a game. Last year they only averaged 17.8. That does not seem like much but it may be why we are seeing such streaky play in the 4th quarter.
In the win against LA the Bucks still had 20 fouls. Against Charlotte (win) they only had 15. When Milwaukee fouls less, they play better.
The Opponent: The Phoenix Suns
Phoenix went out and got Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal. He’ll play tonight and can be great at times. (So long as he is healthy.) On the season he has played in 26 games. He is averaging 18.1 points per game.
The Suns also went out and got Eric Gordon. He has been an invaluable piece for them, covering for when Beal has been out.
Last season the Suns were very active at the trade deadline. They traded the farm for Kevin Durant. (28/6/5) Do you sense a trend here? Like Milwaukee, Phoenix has traded away all of these future draft picks for current, NAB superstars.
Monty Williams is gone as the head coach. Phoenix’s new coach is Frank Vogel.
Devin Booker, arguably a top-three shooting guard in the league (26/4/5) who is seemingly back after some health issues. He is a good free throw shooter (86%) and good shooter all around (47%).
Deandre Ayton is gone as the Suns starting center. A part of the Damian Lillard trade that brought Greyson Allen to Phoenix, the Suns new starting center is Jusuf Nurkic. Nurkic shoots 51.4% from the field.
Former Buck Grayson Allen is having a good year. He starts for the Suns and is averaging 13 points a game. That is slightly better than his career average. Allen is shooting the lights out from three this year. He is 8% points over his career-average there.
Things to tell your buddies as you are watching the game
- Devin Booker played his college ball for the University of Kentucky.
- Grayson Allen played his college ball for Duke. (Get those NCAA brackets wrapped up.)
- Where would Giannis have gone to college? (I’d vote for UConn)
- Phoenix leads the All-Time Series 76-74.
- If the playoffs were tomorrow Milwaukee would be in as the #2 seed. Phoenix would be in as the number 6 seed.
- The Milwaukee Bucks were founded in 1968. The Phoenix Suns were also founded in 1968.
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