Game Day: Bucks (33-17) @ Suns (29-21), Tues 2/6/24

[Mori Chu]

Watched this one on DVR so I couldn't comment here during the game. Always nice to beat the Bucks and avenge the 2021 Finals. But they were missing so many guys: Lillard, Lopez, and then Middleton. In a way our performance was disappointing because we should blow out a Bucks team missing so many important players. But Giannis is such a force of nature that they're in every game. It's almost impossible to stop him when he plows his way to the basket. I felt for poor KD trying to stay in front of him. It was also interesting to see Cam Payne and Jae Crowder playing all-out to try to beat their former team. I do miss Payne; I feel like this team could use a bench floor general like him.

This felt like one of the best combined games for all of the Big 3. Usually one of them goes off, sometimes two; but tonight it felt like all 3 were on their game. I also thought Nurkic did a nice job as a secondary help defender on Giannis.

On the downside, our bench gave us almost nothing; nobody off the bench had more than 4 points. Eubanks had a bad game and made several mistakes. Bol Bol is fine but he gives away about as much as he gets you. I really dislike that lineup Coach uses where he plays BOTH Eubanks AND Bol Bol at the same time; that is insane to me, and he keeps doing it so he must like it for some reason. Eric Gordon and Grayson Allen also mostly didn't show up.

Nice to get this win but we still need to be better if we want to be a contender. We should destroy a depleted Bucks team, not play them tight. We continue to be in love with the contested 2-point shot, and we make everything too hard on ourselves.

[Flagrant Fowl]

These Suns can be better than this game, but I'm skeptical of their ceiling being higher than what we've seen in the past month.

My primary concern is that they've peaked defensively and it's unrealistic to expect their offense to sustain through four playoff rounds undeterred.

On one hand, that's fine because every champion benefits from some luck. On the other hand, the deficiencies are clearly obvious and several other contenders will be well prepared and skilled enough to exploit them.

[Carno]

Nice summation by Mori. I agree with most of what he states. However, I think I like the Eubanks / Bol lineup. It didn't work great in this game since neither one can guard Giannis, but I want to see more. I think it can work.

I'm also not concerned with the lack of production from Gordon, Allen and the bench. So much depends on how teams are defending the Big <=3. When all 3 of the Big <=3 are scoring as they were in this game, there isn't much room for the other guys to score. An efficient offense is what matters; not who gets the shots / points.

I also don't care that this wasn't a blowout. It looked to me like the Suns had a bit of a hangover from their long road trip. This is not uncommon. Also, this is the NBA. The Suns aren't going to play their best every game, and on any given night, a shorthanded team can play well enough to get a win.

[Superbone]

These Suns can be better than this game, but I'm skeptical of their ceiling being higher than what we've seen in the past month.

My primary concern is that they've peaked defensively and it's unrealistic to expect their offense to sustain through four playoff rounds undeterred.

On one hand, that's fine because every champion benefits from some luck. On the other hand, the deficiencies are clearly obvious and several other contenders will be well prepared and skilled enough to exploit them.

God, I hope not! I don't think we can go far at our current defensive level.

[Flagrant Fowl]

These Suns can be better than this game, but I'm skeptical of their ceiling being higher than what we've seen in the past month.

My primary concern is that they've peaked defensively and it's unrealistic to expect their offense to sustain through four playoff rounds undeterred.

On one hand, that's fine because every champion benefits from some luck. On the other hand, the deficiencies are clearly obvious and several other contenders will be well prepared and skilled enough to exploit them.

God, I hope not! I don't think we can go far at our current defensive level.

I suppose it depends on your definition of "far" with this team, but you're right if you think that's the Finals.