NBA Picks 2/6 – Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns

NBA Picks 2/6 – Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

In what could be an NBA Finals preview, the Milwaukee Bucks (33-17) visit the Phoenix Suns (29-21) tonight at Footprint Center on TNT. These franchises met in the NBA Finals in 2021 with Milwaukee winning the title in six games. Phoenix is a 3.5-point favorite and the total is 244.5. Tonight’s game is the first of two head-to-head matchups this season. Milwaukee won both meetings last season and has won three of four against Phoenix since they met in the NBA Finals in July 2021. 

Milwaukee is coming off a 123-108 loss at Utah on Sunday, it was their third loss in their last four games. Milwaukee is on the final leg of a five-game Western Conference road trip where they’ve gone 1-3. Phoenix returns home after a seven-game road trip that saw them go 4-3, they crushed Washington 140-112 yesterday in the final game of the road trip. Bradley Beal scored a season-high 43 points on 16-21 shooting in his return to Washington where he spent 11 seasons and made three all-star appearances. 

GAME STORYLINES: MILWAUKEE

When the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA title thanks in large part to the greatness of then 27-year-old superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo it seemed destined that another title or at least a finals appearance would soon follow. But the last 2 years have brought a second-round exit to the Boston Celtics and a stunning 4-1 loss to the No. 8 seed Miami Heat last season in the first round. Milwaukee has also fired two head coaches within the last year despite being one of the top teams in the NBA. They fired Mike Budenholzer on May 5 after the Miami Heat upset the top seed Bucks from the playoffs, and then fired his replacement Adrian Griffin after just 43 games on Jan. 24. The Griffin firing was shocking considering he had a 30-13 record. 

Doc Rivers was officially named the head coach Jan. 26, and he’s gone 1-3 through four games. In what can be considered a cruel twist of fate for former coach Adrian Griffin, Doc Rivers and the current Milwaukee Bucks staff will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars when they face the West on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis. Boston has the best record in the Eastern Conference at 38-12 but their head coach Joe Mazzulla coached the East All-Stars last season which makes him ineligible to coach this season, Milwaukee was second to Boston at the time of the All-Star deadline so Doc Rivers got the all-star coaching nod. Milwaukee is a sort of a homecoming for Rivers as he starred at nearby Marquette University from 1980-1983 and had his jersey retired at the school in 2004.

Milwaukee also made big moves on the court in addition to the coaching changes. On Sep. 27, the Bucks acquired 7-time All-Star and 7-time All-NBA superstar Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team trade. Milwaukee gave up two of their better defenders in all-star Jrue Holiday and double-digit scorer Grayson Allen. Not surprisingly, Milwaukee’s defense has been significantly worse this season.

On the court for the Bucks, Giannis continues his elite level of play by averaging a career-high 31.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.1 steals through 48 games. The 29-year-old superstar is one of the favorites to win the MVP award this season. Lillard is averaging 24.9 points, 6.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1 steal through 48 games. Giannis and Lillard were both named All-Star game starters last week. Franchise mainstays Khris Middleton (15.0 pts, 5.1 asts, 4.3 rebs), Brook Lopez (13.3 pts, 5.5 rebs, 2.8 blks) and Bobby Portis (12.6 pts, 6.9 rebs) provide a strong foundation of scoring, shooting and defense for the Bucks ‘Big Two’ of Giannis and Lillard.

GAME STORYLINES: PHOENIX

Like Milwaukee, the Phoenix Suns believed their 2021 NBA Finals appearance was just the beginning of great things to come but injuries, trades, bad attitudes and head coaching instability has resulted in back-to-back second round playoff exits for Phoenix over the past two seasons. Phoenix won a franchise-record 64 games in 2021-2022 but had their season end with a humiliating 33-point Game 7 loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. Last season, Phoenix acquired 13-time All-Star Kevin Durant at the February trade deadline, but their season still ended with a 4-2 loss to the eventual NBA Champion Denver Nuggets in the second round. Phoenix fired head coach Monty Williams shortly after being eliminated by Denver in May. 

Last June, the Phoenix Suns pulled off a blockbuster trade by acquiring three-time All-Star Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards in an effort to form a ‘Big 3’ of Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. The Suns ‘Big 3’ got off to an inauspicious start as Beal and Booker began the year with injuries which caused the Suns to get off to a 4-6 start, they’ve been in an uphill climb in a tough Western Conference ever since. Beal has missed 24 games due to injury this year but is coming off a season-high 43 points in Sunday’s blowout win in Washington. Beal has also been healthy of late as he’s not missed a game since Dec. 27, not coincidently Phoenix now finds themselves a season-high 8 games over .500 with Beal seemingly back at full strength. Beal’s 18.1 ppg is his lowest since the 2015-2016 season but his shooting efficiency from the floor (49.6 percent from 2, 34.5 percent from 3) remains excellent as it was in Washington.

Kevin Durant is having another tremendous season at age 35, he’s averaging 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and shooting 53.8 percent from the field across 48 games. He was recently named an All-Star game starter, it will be his 14th appearance in the game. Devin Booker is averaging 27.8 points, a career-high 7.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds through 41 games, he was named an All-Star for the fifth time this season. Trade acquisitions Grayson Allen (career-high 13 ppg, 4 rebs, 2.9 asts, league-best 49.1 percent from 3) and Jusuf Nurkic (12 pts, 10.3 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk) have played very well in supporting roles for Phoenix and have had big games when Beal and Booker have missed time.

THE PICK

Phoenix returns home after a long trip, while Milwaukee is concluding a somewhat difficult road trip, Lay the Points and take Phoenix!!