Game Day: Bucks (35-21) @ Suns (44-10), Thurs 2/10/22

[Shabazz]

This is some team we have. Even Ish can play.

I also love how big we are. When was the last time the Suns could match up with any big man combo in the NBA? There are some plays with McGee where he’s so much longer and springier than the opponents that he just keeps the ball high and the defenders jump for it like they’re little brother and big brother is playing keep-away. I get flashbacks of watching guys like Chieck Diallo guarding Boban, but this time we’ve got the Boban.

[The Bobster]

basketball-reference.com gives the Suns a 96% chance of finishing with the league's best record.

[ShelC]

monty
















cp












mikal




da








play

[The Bobster]

Total assists this season -

Chris Paul - 584
Trae Young - 457
James Harden - 447
Dejounte Murray - 440
Russell Westbrook - 419

[The Bobster]

Total steals this season -

Chris Paul - 103
Dejounte Murray - 97
Gary Trent Jr. - 89
Tyrese Haliburton - 86
Marcus Smart - 86

[The Bobster]

Assist to Turnover Ratio for top players in Assist%

Chris Paul - 584 Ast/130 Trn = 4.49
Dejounte Murray - 440 Ast/120 Trn = 3.67
Kyle Lowry - 349 Ast/129 Trn = 2.71
LaMelo Ball - 366 Ast/154 Trn = 2.38
Trae Young - 457 Ast/203 Trn = 2.25
Darius Garland - 365 Ast/166 Trn = 2.20
Nikola Jokić - 378 Ast/174 Trn = 2.17
James Harden - 447 Ast/212 Trn = 2.11
Luka Dončić - 373 Ast/179 Trn = 2.08
Ja Morant - 299 Ast/152 Trn = 1.97

The dude is insanely good.

[The Bobster]

Most assists in a game this season -

Chris Paul - 19 vs. Milwaukee
Chris Paul - 19 vs. San Antonio
Darius Garland - 18 vs. Oklahoma City
Chris Paul - 18 vs. New Orleans

[Flagrant Fowl]

Dario just standing there is my favorite part.

[The Bobster]

I'm glad Dario didn't get traded. If they win this year he deserves to be part of it.

[LazarusLong]

Most enjoyable win of the year.


"The Suns outscored the Bucks 68-50 in the paint last night, with a sizeable chunk of that damage coming from Deandre Ayton, who scored 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting. While one who watched last night’s game would not have been able to guess, the Bucks have been one of the best teams at protecting the paint this season by allowing just 43.2 points in the paint this season, according to NBA.com/stats. Phoenix just overpowered this typically robust paint defense from Milwaukee, and it propelled them to a massive win over the champs." -- Fansided

[In2ition]

It was a fun game with the exception of the refs, Book playing very poorly by his standards, and the 3 pt shooting in the first half being bad. I still don't understand how Giannis can lower his shoulder, run into someone that is in good guarding position and straight up and down, then knee them and still get a foul call.

The Bucks really missed Brook Lopez and the Ibaka trade is going to help them out. It's tough for them that Connaughton broke hand though.

[iLLmatic]

I was at the game. Did Shaq have anything to say after the ass whooping?

[bajanguy008]

My bro would tell you guys he appreciates me because I'm his harshest critic so even in wins or when others tell him how he balled out I would be complaining about mistakes he made lol

So hope y'all don't get tired of me on Book

Everyone else DA, Mikal, Cam and obviously CP3 all played composed but again, Starboy had one of those smh games.
His shot selection and decision making was No Bueno

DA was awesome for real
Mikal post up game , he's literally rim running most possessions looking to seal guys lol.

[iLLmatic]

Lots of annoying Buck fans at the game last night too.

[iLLmatic]

If we meet the bucks again in the finals we have the ability to match the size this time.

[Indy]

Had to watch the last 3 quarters late, but that was fun. I hate the whistle Giannis gets…he’s already one of the toughest covers in the league, he doesn’t need help from the officials.

Ayton won this game for us by the way. I have no idea why Milwaukee continued to switch little guys onto him, he absolutely abused them all game. Book didn’t have it going tonight and it didn’t matter.

I was also trying to figure this one out during the game. The Bucks are pretty shorthanded in the front court with Greg Monroe being their only real big guy on the bench, so maybe they were worried about Giannis or Portis picking up fouls? Then again, if they weren't switching smaller guys onto Ayton, the Suns wouldn't have force fed him post touches in the paint. I think it might've just be Budenholzer trying to Jedi mind trick the Suns or something. Seems like his gameplan was dead set against giving shooters good looks and at least that part worked decently well for them.

I really liked how comfortable Ayton and McGee looked in the short stretch of them playing together. Clearly that's been worked on in practice because no one seemed hesitant in what they were trying to do when that lineup was out there.

Maybe they gave Portis the night off on his birthday when it comes to Ayton.

But he did guard him a few times in the paint, and even with him being 6-10, 250, he was just dwarfed by Ayton.

And I do think they made a decision to not have Giannis guard him.

[Split T]

Giannis rarely guards the best players, they like him in the helper role

[Mori Chu]

MAX AYTON NOW!!

What a win. Bodes well for the potential Finals rematch, obviously. Book didn't shoot well, but it seemed like he had tough defenders draped all over him on most of his shots. I don't have a great eye for NBA defensive schemes, but my guess is that the Bucks were trying to deny us the 3-point shot, because we shot 3s horribly especially in the first half. Loved how Ayton played; that's the difference between him and a guy like McGee, who can get you some nice numbers but could never have a game like that as the focal point of the offense.

The refs were driving me crazy in the first half. They just let Giannis charge to the basket and bash into everyone, and if we breathed on him it was a foul. That play where he pushed Mikal in the back and then Mikal got the foul was pure BS. I hope the league puts better refs on the series if we see them in the playoffs. I hated how tight they called the game in general, including several quick technicals. Just let the guys play.

Bucks are still a really good team. But it seemed like some of their role players and 3-point specialists weren't as potent tonight. Middleton still scares me and every shot he puts up I just assume is going in. Their team still heavily revolves around Giannis. Almost impossible to stop him, but you can't ask for a much better defensive matchup than Ayton and JaVale. They did pretty well against him despite some ticky-tack foul calls.

Really impressive stretch of games for us, beating Brooklyn, Philly, and then Milwaukee. I don't say how anybody could deny that we're currently the best team in the NBA. Man it feels good to say that.

[Split T]

There’s only two teams we haven’t beat this year, Orlando and Miami. We haven’t played Orlando yet, we get them tomorrow. Miami smoked us with 3 point shooting, we get the rematch in a couple weeks.

[Split T]

I’m still worried about a potential matchup. Ya we smoked them tonight, but Giannis really only forced the issue for a few minutes and we didn’t exactly stop him. When he wanted to he got to the rim and scored or drew fouls. If last night was an indication of how he’d be reffed in a finals rematch, we’ve still got work to do.