Recap: Depleted Suns put up strong fight close loss to Bucks

Apr 1, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives for the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma (18) in the first quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

PHOENIX — Devin Booker’s 39-point, 11-assist double-double wasn’t enough to push the Phoenix Suns over the Milwaukee Bucks in a tight 133-123 loss without Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Royce O’Neale.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

Phoenix’s fourth consecutive loss was an encouraging one, believe it or not. The Suns revived a fight and effort to stay close to the Damian Lillard-less Bucks that they hadn’t seen since winning four-straight just over a week ago. Booker was flanked by tremendous efforts from Grayson Allen (23 points on six 3-point makes), Collin Gillespie (18 points) and Tyus Jones (16 points).

Wildcard players like Cody Martin and Ryan Dunn provided a defensive edge that allowed Phoenix to stay close and make runs despite huge nights from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, who had 37 and 22 points respectively.

Unfortunately, like many instances this season, this encouraging loss hurts Phoenix in the long run as it is now 1½ games behind the Sacramento Kings for the 10-seed and final spot in the Western Conference play-in ahead of their matchup with the lowly Washington Wizards on Wednesday.

Phoenix continues this three-game road trip in Boston on Friday for a rematch against the defending champion Celtics.

Suns flame runs out in 3rd quarter

Phoenix’s second quarter run was proven futile as Milwaukee turned up the notch again in the third quarter despite 20 combined points from Devin Booker and Tyus Jones in the period, entering the final quarter down 95-83.

Devin Booker scored another 10 points in the period, bringing his total up to 32 points and six assists in 31 minutes on the floor. Tyus Jones put together a scoring run by himself to dig into the lead towards the end of the third quarter, scoring 10 of his 16 total points in that span.

It all seemed for not as the inevitable Giannis Antetokounmpo domination continued. The superstar forward scored another 10 points in the period to add to his efficient 30-point total on 9-of-13 shooting and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Bucks as a team shot 67% from the field through the first three periods and the Suns had few answers for it.

Booker, Suns storm back in 2nd quarter

Devin Booker erupted for 15 of his game-leading 22 points in the second quarter as Phoenix’s group effort helped erase a once-15-point Milwaukee lead down to three entering halftime, 60-57.

The Suns shot 12-of-19 from the field and 7-of-12 from deep to outscore the Bucks 38-29 in the second quarter and storm back in the game. Booker finished the first half with 22 points and five assists and efforts from Collin Gillespie — 11 points –, Cody Martin, Grayson Allen and Tyus Jones fueled the comeback.

Giannis Antetokounmpo continued his dominance, finishing the half with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting and making all seven of his free throw attempts. Brook Lopez was held to two points in the second period after scoring 10 in the first. Backup point guard Ryan Rollins added 10 points, three assists and to steals in 13 minutes.

Antetokounmpo, Lopez start hot on depleted Suns in 1st quarter

Milwaukee jumped out to a lead as large as 15 on the Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal-less Suns in the first quarter behind aggressive starts from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, taking a 31-19 lead after the opening quarter.

Devin Booker led Phoenix with seven points in the period, followed by Collin Gillespie, who continues to be a spark in the lineup, with five points on 2-of-3 shooting. Phoenix’s offense understandably stalled for stretches throughout the quarter without Durant and its defense was no match for Antetokounmpo and Lopez. Booker committed four of Phoenix’s six turnovers in the period.

Antetokounmpo asserted his aggressiveness by attacking the rim and putting up nine points on 5-of-5 shooting from the free throw line. Brook Lopez not only attacked the paint off switches but also spaced the floor. He led the game with 10 points including two made 3s.

Injury Report

Royce O’Neale popped up on the injury report mere hours before tip off as questionable with an illness. Bradley Beal (left hamstring strain) was also listed questionable. Both were downgraded to out ahead of the matchup, joining Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) on the inactive list.

For Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo was made available pregame with a left foot sprain. Good news for the Bucks as Damian Lillard (right calf deep vein thrombosis), Bobby Portis (league suspension), AJ Green (right AC joint sprain) and Jericho Sims (right thumb UCL sprain) are all out.

Suns Devin Booker vows to stay in Phoenix for entire career

*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, and exclusive content. SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*

Reporter Connor Moreno covers the Phoenix Suns for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @cmorenoNBA, and on Bluesky, @cloading.bsky.social