A sore hamstring forced Giannis Antetokounmpo to sit out when the Milwaukee Bucks faced the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. Minus Giannis, who is averaging 30.8 points this season, the Bucks did the unexpected when they led by as many as 25 points en route to tallying an impressive 140-129 win.
The wire-to-wire win was somewhat unexpected, especially against a team that boasts a deadly trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal.
Bucks played fast and loose
Booker and Durant offered a simple explanation as to why the Bucks scored the dominant victory despite not having their leading scorer and rebounder.
“You got to understand that when teams are missing somebody who usually dominates the ball a lot, those guys are going to go out there and play free, and that's what they did,” Booker said, per Duane Rankin of AZCentral.
For Durant, the Bucks did a good job of attacking the basket and finding the open shooters. The Bucks made 24 three-pointers, and four Milwaukee players made at least four trifectas each.
Hot three-point shooting propelled the Bucks
Durant was particularly impressed with Bobby Portis Jr., who went 5-of-5 from three-point range to finish with a team-tying high 31 points.
“We were scrambling. They were driving to the rim. We got to do a better job of keeping the ball in front of us so we don't have to help so much and they spread us out. You got five shooters. Bobby Portis came in and hit every shot,” Durant said.
Lillard also scored 31 points and issued 16 assists in the win. Portis had his own double-double as he also collected ten rebounds. Khris Middleton also played solid in his first game after missing 16 straight games with 22 points. Jae Crowder, Malik Beasley, and Brook Lopez added 18, 17, and 10 points, respectively.
The win hiked Milwaukee’s record to 44-24. A big game is coming up for the Bucks as they will take on the league-leading Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
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