MILWAUKEE – The short-handed Phoenix Suns showed far more competitive spirit Tuesday night at Milwaukee after hardly exhibiting any in Sunday’s embarrassment against Houston.
Devin Booker led with his scoring, playmaking and leadership in responding to a subpar performance.
The Suns got key contributions from multiple players and fought back from as many as 22 points to put themselves in a position to win despite not having Kevin Durant (ankle), Bradley Beal (hamstring) or Royce O’Neale (illness), who was a late scratch.
Just one problem. Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Suns tried two on the ball, showed him a wall but had no answer for the two-time MVP in losing their fourth straight, 133-123, before a sellout crowd of 17,341 at Fiserv Forum in Suns coach Mike Budenholzer's return game against the team he coached to an NBA title before being fired two seasons later in 2022-23.
"We'll have to look at it. I thought the guys were flying around. I thought we were contesting."
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) April 2, 2025
Mike Budenholzer as Suns allowed Bucks to shoot a franchise-best 68.9% from the field, going 17-of-29 from 3 in 133-123 loss.
Giannis Antetokounmpo faced two on the ball and found… pic.twitter.com/qQ2IUqcNs7
Antetokounmpo finished with 37 points and 11 assists as the Bucks (41-34) made history by shooting an all-time franchise-best 68.9% from the field. The victory ended a four-game losing skid.
Milwaukee connected on 17 of its 29 attempts from distance with Antetokounmpo, a 17.6% shooter from 3, hitting 2-of-4. Six Bucks made at least two threes with Ryan Rollins going 5-of-7 and Taurean Prince delivering on 4-of-5.
Rollins, a 40.4% shooter from 3, nailed a dagger 3 to give the Bucks a 127-120 lead with 69 seconds remaining in the game.
Booker posted a game-high 39 points to go with 11 assists to lead the Suns (35-41). Grayson Allen scored 23 points, going 6-of-13 from 3, in starting for Durant.
Two-way player Collin Gillespie added 18 points with a 4-of-8 effort on 3s while Tyus Jones shot 4-of-6 from deep in scoring 16 off the bench.
The Suns continue their three-game road trip Friday against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics (56-19), winners of nine straight who blasted the Suns by 30 points last week, 132-102 in Phoenix.
Here are takeaways from Tuesday’s loss. The Suns have to win their remaining six games just to finish .500 and avoid their first losing season since 2019-20.
Play-in update
The Suns now are a game-and-a-half behind Sacramento for the 10th seed and final play-in spot in the Western Conference. They trail Dallas by two games for ninth.
The Kings have the current head-to-head tiebreaker over the Suns. If Phoenix ends the regular season with a win over the Kings in Sacramento and both teams have the same record, the Suns will win the tiebreaker by having a better division record.
Sacramento (36-39) plays at Washington (16-59) on Wednesday. The Wizards have the second-worst record in the NBA.
The Suns have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mavs. Dallas (37-39) faces Atlanta (36-39) at home Wednesday. The Hawks are eighth in the East.
"It's tough. We put ourselves in a position to it make it a game at the end of the game, made a bunch of offensive plays and we just couldn't get stops when we needed them."
Suns two-way ...
