Milwaukee Bucks: Grades From 137-112 Win Over Phoenix Suns
Feb 4, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) goes up for a layup against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Bucks won 137-112. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks may have dropped a ton of games in the last few weeks, but on Saturday night they rebounded in a big way by crushing the Phoenix Suns into dust.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Suns | 25 | 41 | 23 | 23 | 112 |
| Bucks | 45 | 29 | 27 | 36 | 135 |
The Milwaukee Bucks managed to stay at a higher level of play when they departed Denver to go play the Phoenix Suns, and the Suns had no real answer for Milwaukee aside from an insane Devin Booker heat check in the second quarter.
The Bucks were rolling, especially Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is apparently very, very tired of losing basketball games. Saturday night’s game was exciting, but it’s important to not get too pumped up about it, considering the Suns are literally the 29th-best team in the NBA this season.
Still, a win is a win and Milwaukee needed this one. The Bucks are, somehow, half of a game away
from the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. There’s life here! With Khris Middleton set to return in Milwaukee against the Miami Heat on Wednesday, there’s reason to be happy about the Bucks for the first time in a while.
To keep the good vibes alive, let’s look back through this last victory. Lots of Bucks did very well and almost all of them got to play at least a few minutes, with the exceptions of Spencer Hawes and Roy Hibbert.
To see how all of the Bucks who actually got in the game did, we’ll go through them all and assign grades based on their performance. After that Jason Kidd gets his grade too, as do the Phoenix Suns for their effort as a team.
Feb 4, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) shoots over Phoenix Suns forward P.J. Tucker (17) during the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Bucks won 137-112. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Starters
Matthew Dellavedova
G, Milwaukee Bucks
B-Matthew Dellavedova didn’t get a ton of assists in this game, which is actually sometimes a good thing for the Bucks. Hear me out. When Delly gets lots of assists, it means Milwaukee is running lots of half-court sets. The Bucks aren’t typically great at those. When Delly doesn’t get a lot of assists but Milwaukee still plays well, that typically means the Bucks were running in transition. That was the story on Saturday, leaving Dellavedova with just three dimes. He also added nine points and a steal, and missed just one of his nine shots.
Tony Snell
G, Milwaukee Bucks
CTony Snell is still in the circle of trust, but he was bad in Phoenix. Snell ended the night with six points, one rebound, one assist, one block and two turnovers in 26 minutes on the floor. He missed five of the seven shots he took, but at least the Bucks beat the Suns with him on the floor.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
G/F, Milwaukee Bucks
A+This is the Giannis Antetokounmpo the Bucks need to show up on a near-nightly basis. This Giannis is not nearly as interested in fadeaway post jumpers as he is in getting to the rim over and over and over, which is exactly what the Greek Freak did on Saturday. Giannis ended the evening with 30 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and four turnovers, which isn’t surprising considering how often Giannis had the ball in his hands. Scoring 30 points on 20 shots is always impressive, especially without any made threes to help out the point total.
Jabari Parker
F, Milwaukee Bucks
AJabari Parker was good and almost great at times against Phoenix. It’s a little ridiculous how high the standards are getting for these guys–Jabari dropped 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a block on 70 percent field goal shooting and my first reaction was that he wasn’t quite great. That speaks to just how good both Giannis and Jabari are, that we’re used to nights like this from young Parker. He also had one of the better in-game dunks I’ve seen this season, one of those where you sort of yelp and people around you think you got a leg cramp or something. Those are the best dunks.
John Henson
C, Milwaukee Bucks
B+Here’s something that is not surprising: NBA players do better with more minutes. John Henson got real minutes for the second game in a row, and unsurprisingly played well for the second game in a row. In his 25 minutes Henson dropped 15 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block on the Suns. His three turnovers were really the only poor part of Henson’s game, as he missed just two of the eight shots he took on Saturday. Next: Bench
Feb 4, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) blocks away a shot attempt by Phoenix Suns forward Marquese Chriss (0) during the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Bucks won 137-112. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Bench
Greg Monroe
C, Milwaukee Bucks
AHe may not have scored a ton of points, but don’t let that distract you from how damn good Greg Monroe was against the Suns. He had a perfect game, making all five of his shots and scoring 13 points. He also added four rebounds, two assists, three steals, and a block. Moose was everywhere, and aside from Jabari’s dunk his grown-man steal on Devin Booker was the best moment in this game. I am so ready for Playoffs Greg Monroe. Moose really wants to go, and with the way he’s impacted both sides of the floor for the Bucks I would not be surprised to see him swing a playoff game in crunch time. It’s about time to set the Moose loose.
Malcolm Brogdon
G, Milwaukee Bucks
A-The President bounced back like Big Sean against the Suns, posting 13 points, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block. It’s not a coincidence that Malcolm Brogdon and Greg Monroe had good games on the same night–these two are on the same wavelength. Brogdon took over the bench unit and led it well, racking up a bunch of assists and combining with Delly to play strong defense on Eric Bledsoe all night.
Michael Beasley
F, Milwaukee Bucks
BMichael Beasley didn’t get much run against the Suns, as the Beas was only released for seven minutes. In that short span, Beasley scored six points and grabbed a rebound, although the Bucks got outscored in his time on the floor thanks to Mr. Devin Booker going supernova.
Thon Maker
C, Milwaukee Bucks
CThon Maker again saw almost no playing time in Phoenix, hitting the floor for just three minutes at the end of the game. He very nearly posted a three-trillion, but he took and missed a shot to ruin that special circumstance. That was the only statistic Thon managed in three minutes. It’s weird he didn’t get more run in a game that was out of reach after the first quarter.
Jason Terry
SG, Milwaukee Bucks
AJason Terry is so fun to watch. He was hustling all over the floor, as always, and ended the night with eight points, two assists, one rebound, one steal, and two more blocks!! How does this keep happening?! One of the blocks was on Leandro Barbosa, and the other was on Devin Booker. Terry is five years older than Barbosa and 19 years older than Booker. JET blocks are the gift that keeps on giving.
Mirza Teletovic
F, Milwaukee Bucks
ABrandon Knight may have missed his chance at a revenge game, but Mirza Teletovic certainly did not. He dropped 19 points on his former team, on the strength of 60 percent field goal shooting and five made free throws. Teletovic also added three rebounds and three assists. Revenge games are so fun–the only way this would’ve been better is if Teletovic scored the exact difference in score between Phoenix and Milwaukee, as an additional way to rub his game in his old team’s face.
Rashad Vaughn
G, Milwaukee Bucks
C+Rashad Vaughn was active in his four minutes played on Saturday night, recording an assist and a rebound and missing the only shot he took on the evening. The Bucks outscored the Suns by a point with him on the floor, so at least he did something right!Next: Jason Kidd
Feb 3, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Head Coach
Jason Kidd
Coach, Milwaukee Bucks
C+It makes sense why Jason Kidd didn’t feel right about putting in Thon and Rashad until super late in this game–Milwaukee all-caps NEEDED this win. Still, it would’ve been nice to see the youngsters get more than seven combined minutes in this one. Kidd refusing to call timeout to stop Devin Booker’s run in the second quarter and instead hoping for Milwaukee to stop it organically is a noble goal, but sometimes a shooter just gets hot and it doesn’t matter how good the defense is. That’s exactly when it’s time to burn one of those timeouts and make the heat check try to survive a few minutes sitting down.Next: Phoenix Suns
Mar 14, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) and Tyson Chandler (4) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns defeated the Timberwolves 107-104. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Opposition
Phoenix Suns
Pacific, 16-35
The Milwaukee Bucks are now 22-28 and won’t take the floor again until Wednesday night when the Miami Heat visit Milwaukee.
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