Devin Booker's 30 Points Not Enough as Suns Fall to Bucks
PHOENIX -- In what felt like a playoff atmosphere at the Footprint Center, the Phoenix Suns were unable to edge out the Milwaukee Bucks in their 116-104 loss on Tuesday night.
Devin Booker (30 points) reached his sixth 30-point game in the month of March. Phoenix's next highest scorer was Deandre Ayton with 19.
The Suns now drop to 37-32 and have lost three games in a row. Milwaukee became the first team to 50 wins with the victory over Phoenix and have now won their last 21-of-23 games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (36 points) notched his fourth 30-point game in last five outings. Brook Lopez also chipped in 21 points of his own in the victory.
Prior to the game, Suns head coach Monty Williams talked about what he learned from their prior matchup, a 104-101 win for the Bucks back in Milwaukee on Feb. 26.
“You just have to be able to play 48 minutes of physical basketball. You can’t get deflated when they go on a run or Giannis has an and-one dunk. There is so many things that can happen in that game when you watch teams get a big lead on them," Williams said.
"It only takes three or four mistakes on defense to allow them to get on a roll. They have so many guys that can make shots off of the dribble and they have guys that can knock down shots and catch shots. They have Giannis (Antetokounmpo). You have to stay the course and you can’t be comfortable with the lead."
After Phoenix got down by as much as 25 to the Golden State Warriors the previous night, it appeared the Suns were on a similar course after the Bucks reached up to a 16 point lead in the first half of action.
However, Phoenix battled through adversity and grabbed the lead back with 10:47 left in the game. Milwaukee would quickly built back their lead and never relinquished it, with the icing on the cake coming via a Jae Crowder three with 1:23 left.
The Bucks show 37 free throws to Phoenix's 16
The Suns return home to face the Orlando Magic on Thursday.
