Game Day: Bucks (40-30) @ Suns (34-37), Mon 3/24/25

[Superbone]

Time: 7:00 pm AZ (7:00 pm PT/10:00 pm ET)
Place: PHX Arena, Phoenix, AZ
TV: AZ Family 3TV, NBATV

Mike Budenholzer faces his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks tonight for the first time. A team he took to the NBA Championship some of you may recall. The Suns are playing their best basketball of the season as they have finally figured out the right mix of vets and youth. The Gauchos (Gillespie, Dunn, and Ighodaro) have breathed new life into the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are currently tied with the Mavericks for the 10th and final Western Conference spot with 11 games remaining. The Bucks are 2-1 on a five-game road trip. Lillard has been out for the last two and will remain out tonight. The Suns will be missing Bradley Beal.

https://www.nba.com/gamenotes/bucks.pdf
https://www.nba.com/gamenotes/suns.pdf

Go Suns!!!

Dis • cuss

[Superbone]

Spoiler: show/hide

Suns by 6. KD leads all scorers although Giannis will dominate as well. Giannis with 11 FTs

[Split T]

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Suns by 11, Book drops 45

[TOO]

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Giannis by 8 free throws

[ShelC]

So both centers are back along with Grayson. What happens to the rotation and all the vibes we've had? Does Bud stick with what's working in CG, Dunn and Oso or go back to giving minutes to guys like Plum and Allen? Not an easy task but the proof is in the pudding. Gotta tell Plumlee he's out of the rotation and tell Grayson and Royce they're splitting whatever minutes are leftover from Dunn.

[Superbone]

TOO made me think of another side prediction for this one. How many FTs will Giannis shoot tonight? We will make that a separate contest.

[Superbone]

So both centers are back along with Grayson. What happens to the rotation and all the vibes we've had? Does Bud stick with what's working in CG, Dunn and Oso or go back to giving minutes to guys like Plum and Allen? Not an easy task but the proof is in the pudding. Gotta tell Plumlee he's out of the rotation and tell Grayson and Royce they're splitting whatever minutes are leftover from Dunn.

Spoiler: show/hide

Will be interesting to see how Bud manages it. It will determine whether we have a shot at the play-in or not. We might need some of Plumlees fouls for Giannis. Might have to balance them out between Oso, Richards, and Plumlee. And does Dunn get a defensive shot at Giannis tonight?

[specialsauce]

My guess is we go back to the same rotation that Bud has trotted out all year and we lose bad because Bud has no brain or guts

And playing Dunn, Oso , CG and Martin 5-10 minutes doesn't count for shit.

If Bud has any brain it will be them playing and Allen and Plumlee getting minutes only if circumstance calls for it

[SunsRIt]

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Suns by 9. Giannis with 14 free throws. Booker with 27 points.

[TOO]

TOO made me think of another side prediction for this one. How many FTs will Giannis shoot tonight? We will make that a separate contest.

16.

[Mori Chu]

Spoiler: show/hide

Bucks by 7.
Giannis shoots 17 FTs, making 11.

[Split T]

6 fts for Giannis.

And Bud was playing all 3 bigs for a bit. I assume that continues to happen in the 1st half. Oso won’t play 44 minutes, but hopefully he plays 25.

I do wonder where the minutes for Allen come from. Probably have to come from Tyus mostly and perhaps Gillespie. There’s no room for Beal anymore.

Gillespie - 20, Tyus - 14, Grayson - 14
Booker - 36, Royce - 12
Dunn - 30, Royce - 10, Martin - 8
KD - 36, Martin - 12
Richards - 24, Oso - 24

Totals:
Book - 36
KD - 36
Dunn - 30
Oso - 24
Richards - 24
Royce - 22
Gillespie - 20
Martin - 20
Grayson - 14
Tyus - 14

I’d have the KD, Book, Dunn, Oso, Gillespie minutes pretty locked into place.

If Richards is ineffective you can give some of his minutes to Plumlee(or just give Oso more).

Tyus and Grayson can split 28 minutes…or lose minutes to Gillespie if need be.

Martin and Royce can split 42 minutes on the wing. Just play who’s making a bigger impact.

Beal doesn’t have a spot unless we are benching Tyus or Grayson completely. You can’t have all 3 of those guards in the rotation.

[specialsauce]

6 fts for Giannis.

And Bud was playing all 3 bigs for a bit. I assume that continues to happen in the 1st half. Oso won’t play 44 minutes, but hopefully he plays 25.

I do wonder where the minutes for Allen come from. Probably have to come from Tyus mostly and perhaps Gillespie. There’s no room for Beal anymore.

Gillespie - 20, Tyus - 14, Grayson - 14
Booker - 36, Royce - 12
Dunn - 30, Royce - 10, Martin - 8
KD - 36, Martin - 12
Richards - 24, Oso - 24

Totals:
Book - 36
KD - 36
Dunn - 30
Oso - 24
Richards - 24
Royce - 22
Gillespie - 20
Martin - 20
Grayson - 14
Tyus - 14

I’d have the KD, Book, Dunn, Oso, Gillespie minutes pretty locked into place.

If Richards is ineffective you can give some of his minutes to Plumlee(or just give Oso more).

Tyus and Grayson can split 28 minutes…or lose minutes to Gillespie if need be.

Martin and Royce can split 42 minutes on the wing. Just play who’s making a bigger impact.

Beal doesn’t have a spot unless we are benching Tyus or Grayson completely. You can’t have all 3 of those guards in the rotation.

I completely disagree.

For the first time ever I agree with Wolfley. If you didn't play on Friday against the Cavs, you don't play moving forward.

Except maybe Richards because also can't play 44 mpg. But Oso should start and get 30 mpg

[Carno]

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Suns by 12. Booker leads all scoring with 35. Giannis with 14 free throws.

[Split T]

Ya you have to add another C at least to the rotation.

The only other thing I changed was giving Grayson 14 minutes at the expense of Tyus. I’m not taking any minutes from Martin or Dunn for Grayson.

[Carno]

My ire toward Tyus has diminished some lately since he started to hit 3s again. However, he still doesn't apply pressure when on offense and is a complete zero on defense. I'd rather have Allen, who at least tries on defense.

As far as centers go, I expect Nick will start again. My hope is that Bud wizens up and inserts Oso early as he did against the Bulls in the second half.

[specialsauce]

Ya you have to add another C at least to the rotation.

The only other thing I changed was giving Grayson 14 minutes at the expense of Tyus. I’m not taking any minutes from Martin or Dunn for Grayson.

That's fine but I'd rather just give one of them the bulk of the minutes so they can get in a rhythm, and I never want to see them on the court together

[Kryptonic]

Spoiler: show/hide

suns by 10…. Oso with 4 blocks

[Superbone]

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suns by 10…. Oso with 4 blocks

Not entering the Giannis FT contest?

[Kryptonic]

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suns by 10…. Oso with 4 blocks

Not entering the Giannis FT contest?

Spoiler: show/hide

Greek gets 12 fts, misses 2…. 10 for 12 from the line with an average of 15 seconds between free throws