Suns 116, Bucks 114: From impressive to embarrassing, just like that

Matt Velazquez | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Coming off a 43-point thrashing of the Portland Trail Blazers – the team with the best record in the Western Conference heading into Wednesday's game – the Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Phoenix Suns, which entered Friday's contest at the other end of the West standings.

Easy, right? Not so fast.

Milwaukee, particularly its starters, looked listless and disconnected for long stretches. A sluggish first half bled into the third quarter as the Suns to maintained control for most of the game, extending the margin to as many as 12 in the third.

The Bucks rallied back to take a six-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but they couldn't hold it, going scoreless over the final 3 minutes, 26 seconds before a dagger 17-footer by Suns veteran guard Jamal Crawford with 0.8 seconds left sent Milwaukee to a 116-114 loss at Fiserv Forum, snapping a three-game win streak.

BOX SCORE: Suns 116, Bucks 114

Khris Middleton, who along with Giannis Antetokounmpo had critical turnovers with the game tied in the final minute, hesitated on the Bucks' final possession, swishing what would have been a game-winning three-pointer had it not come after the buzzer had sounded.

“We’ve got to be able to come out with more energy, especially with a team like that – they don’t have nothing to lose," Antetokounmpo said. "If you give them a chance to believe in the game, especially down the stretch, they’re going to play, they’re going to be relaxed.

"We didn’t do that and when you play around with the game, the game kills you.”

Based on their overall play, it was a game the Bucks (13-5) didn't deserve to win. Outside of Antetokounmpo, who had a season-high 35 points on 14 of 16 shooting along with 10 rebounds, Milwaukee's starting unit, in particular, was lacking through much of the night.

Middleton, Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe put up generally solid offensive numbers, but turnovers, inconsistent defensive effort and ill-timed mistakes led to each of them sitting for extended minutes at certain points as coach Mike Budenholzer dug deep on his bench looking for answers.

Center Brook Lopez, who entered the night hitting 41.4% of his three-pointers on nearly seven attempts per game, had the most notably frustrating night of all the Bucks. His shooting Friday was historically bad, setting an NBA record by missing all 12 of his three-point attempts despite most of them coming on quality looks.

“It’s a surprise, he’s a great shooter," Budenholzer said. "But it’s part of the sport, part of being a shooter. Some nights it’s not your night. I think probably one of the positives from tonight was he kept shooting. His teammates have a ton of confidence in him, I have a lot of confidence in him. It takes a lot of fortitude to keep shooting and I’m really proud of him for that.”

For a team that has bounced back the third quarter numerous times, Bucks failed to flip the switch after taking a three-point deficit into the halftime break. With their starters on the floor for much of that period, they slipped to as many as 12 points down as Suns guard Devin Booker got cooking for 13 of his team-high 29 points.

With less than four minutes left in the third, Budenholzer made sweeping changes, going with a lineup of Antetokounmpo, Matthew Dellavedova, Tony Snell, Pat Connaughton and Ersan Ilyasova. Dellavedova was the most interesting swap considering the veteran point guard had played virtually no meaningful minutes all season.

For the first time all night, though, Budenholzer found a high-energy unit that could string together defensive stops, including an Antetokounmpo steal and Ilyasova taking a pair of charges. Milwaukee translated that to success to points on offense, churning out an 11-0 run to end the quarter within one point.

“I think we’re in a little bit of a tough stretch of games here – a lot of games and a holiday," Budenholzer said. "Sometimes there’s nights when you just need a spark off your bench. It wasn’t sending a message or anything like that. I thought Delly could give us a spark – just a gut feel – and Pat and Tony have been good together. Just get some energy. … I thought Delly was great. Really helped us.”

It stayed close throughout the fourth before the Bucks made their move. Buoyed again by active defense, they embarked on an impressive 14-0 run over nearly six minutes, rattling the Suns as coach Igor Kokoskov and Booker each earned technical fouls during that stretch. Antetokounmpo and Brogdon shouldered the offensive load, contributing six points each during the run that give the Bucks a 114-108 lead.

But Milwaukee couldn't finish. Its last points came with 3 minutes 26 seconds left on a free throw by Brogdon. After that, Lopez missed a pair of three-pointers and Bledsoe had a triple go in and out.

“A couple shots that maybe would have closed the door we just didn’t make the shot," Budenholzer said. "Eric had one that basically kind of went in and came out. Brook, I felt like, had another one. I thought the shots were pretty good. … You got to make one or two more, especially up six. You feel like if you go up eight or nine, well, I think we would have won.”

Those misfires from long range all came before a Trevor Ariza three-pointer and a T.J. Warren and-one tied the score with 53.5 seconds left. From there, Middleton missed a layup, had a jumper blocked off him out of bounds and Antetokounmpo lost the ball on a critical drive against rookie Deandre Ayton on the play immediately before Crawford's game-winner.

"We played down to their record," Middleton said. "Just didn’t compete when it comes down to it. We had a little stretch at the end of the game, but it wasn’t enough. … That’s what happens when we put ourselves in that type of situation.”

Now, the Bucks will have to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it – and quickly – as they host the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. To this point, the Bucks haven't lost consecutive games all season and are hoping they can again avoid a skid Saturday as they close out their six-game homestand.

“It’s not something we talk to one another about; I think we’re just a winning team now," Antetokounmpo said of bouncing back from losses. "We could have made it a lot easier for ourselves if we had just won this game today, but we played around with this game. We weren’t able to do our job tonight and we can (hopefully) come out tomorrow and get it done.”