Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks took the court against the Phoenix Suns without their star players, point guard Damian Lillard and centre Brook Lopez, and without star forward Khris Middleton eight minutes into the game. Despite this, they managed to keep the game close and eventually lost 114-106 at the Footprint Centre.

The Bucks are 33-18 overall after finishing their nine-day, five-game road trip with a 1-4 record. The Suns were 30-21 now.

After the first half, Milwaukee had a 49-48 lead thanks to their inability to force Suns players Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant into isolation offensive setups and their ability to make difficult, contested shots over many defenders. In the process, the Bucks restricted one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA, Grayson Allen, to just one try.

The Suns led by nine points at one point in the third quarter, and while it looked like they may blow the game open at moments, the Bucks played strong defence and eventually made enough baskets to maintain a lead into the opening minutes of the fourth. In the last 12 minutes, Durant, Booker, and Beal finally prevailed in the tug-of-war, making enough baskets to put some distance between themselves and the cold-shooting Bucks.

Bucks guard Malik Beasley remarked, “It just shows how great our defence is becoming.” “They have a lot of fantastic stars on their team, so it’s very excellent that we were able to restrict them to 114 points in the closing minutes. Of course, we need to improve offensively, but we’re still working on it. In the locker room, we’re still in the clear. Everyone is adjusting, so even with an injury mid-game and Dame (out) prior to the game, our centre, we should be fine.”

However, the Bucks starters didn’t give up even after trailing by 14 points at 107-93, finally closing the gap to 107-99 to maintain pressure.

“You can see it, the confidence is growing,” stated Doc Rivers, head coach of the Bucks. “Made a few errors, which is acceptable, but the talking and confidence are there. They discussed the little sprint and jumps we would be doing in the second half during halftime. There is a noticeable increase in defensive confidence. For this team, that is very important. We move to a new level if they can achieve that confidence.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a rough time in Phoenix, but the Bucks were able to score enough points to pose a danger to the very skilled Suns thanks to their patient ball movement and solid defence. Despite the large spectators throughout the game, Antetokounmpo scored 34 points on 13 of 24 shots. But he only shot 7 out of 13 from the free throw line, including 2 out of 7 in the fourth quarter.

Antetokounmpo contributed six assists and ten rebounds. Jae Crowder scored ten points off the bench to complement Malik Beasley’s 22 points (7 of 17 shooting).

Following the injury to three starters for the Bucks, Antetokounmpo stated, “I think guys responded the right way.” “Gave it their all during the entire match. It goes without saying that the side we play against is incredibly talented and capable of scoring goals whenever they want. We did a fantastic job of sabotaging the game, playing hard, moving the ball, and taking care of it, in my opinion. But once more, it just gets difficult if you don’t have three of your starters. Everyone finds it difficult. But excuses are not acceptable. All NBA players who are available to play do so because we have worked incredibly hard to earn this opportunity. We give it our all on the pitch, and sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail.”

Durant finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Booker led the Suns with 32 points. With 25 points and 10 rebounds, Beal also recorded a double-double.