Preview: Suns Face Bucks in Heavyweight Duel

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (29-21) are welcoming the Milwaukee Bucks (33-17) to Footprint Center tonight for the third time since the epic 2021 NBA Finals series.

Phoenix is coming off of a largely successful road trip during which they accrued a 4-3 record, while Milwaukee sits at 1-3 so far on their own road trip.

The Bucks have listed Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez as questionable for the contest, while Giannis Antetokounmpo is listed as probable.

The Suns have a completely clean bill of health sans Damion Lee, a rare instance given Phoenix's recent struggles with the history bug.

Three storylines to watch going into the game:

Bucks: Adjusting to Doc

The Bucks are 1-3 during the beginning of Doc Rivers tenure.

Rivers was hired after the Bucks fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin despite a 30-13 start to the season.

Rivers was hired in hopes of bringing a steadying presence to the locker room and improving the Bucks' poor defense - this could still be the case, but many of the same issues that were present beforehand are still around.

Milwaukee's 123-108 loss to the Utah Jazz showed as much.

The Bucks still lack discipline on defense and are still having a difficult time integrating Lillard into the offense 50 games into the season.

Milwaukee and Phoenix appear to be on different trajectories at this stage.

Star Power

The Suns and Bucks matchup certainly doesn't lack star power.

The teams possess All-Star duos - joining the LA Lakers, LA Clippers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Minnesota Timberwolves as teams with multiple all stars this season.

The Bucks and Suns duos went into the season widely regarded as the two best in basketball - two top five players in Antetokounmpo/Durant accompanied by top 10 players in Lillard and Booker always profiled as elite.

Khris Middleton and Bradley Beal are also multi-time All-Stars that profile as very strong third stars even with dips in statistical outputs.

There's still much talent outside of the stars, with players such as Grayson Allen, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis making consistent contributions throughout the years in various situations.

Key Matchup: Malik Beasley vs Bradley Beal

There's so many intriguing matchups, but this one might be the most vital in dictating how this game goes.

Beal is coming off of a season-high 43 points against the Washington Wizards on Sunday, while Beasley is coming off of a four three-point hit performance against the Jazz and being invited to the three-point contest next weekend.

Beal clearly is the more talented player, but Beasley could get many opportunities to get going tonight off of the gravity that Giannis brings to the floor.

Beal will likely also be getting shadowed by Beasley - as Durant will likely be shadowed by Antetokounmpo and Booker will receive much attention from Middleton.

The Bucks' already porous defense could be in line for another rough night if Beal can get going like he did on Sunday.

Suns-Bucks is set to tip off shortly after 8:00 PM Arizona time tonight and will be broadcast nationally on TNT.