Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points and dished 11 assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 133-123 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns and former head coach Mike Budenholzer on Tuesday.
Ryan Rollins added a career-high 23 points as Milwaukee (41-34) snapped a four-game losing streak. The Bucks also got 22 points from Brook Lopez, 16 from Taurean Prince and 12 from Kyle Kuzma.
Devin Booker amassed 39 points and 11 assists for Phoenix (35-41), which lost its fourth game in a row. Former Buck Grayson Allen added 23 points while Collin Gillespie had 18 and Tyus Jones scored 16. Nick Richards logged 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Milwaukee came out firing in the first quarter, shooting 68.8 percent while going 4-for-7 from deep to take a 31-19 lead.
While the Bucks continued to shoot well in the second, Phoenix exploded on offense, scoring 38 points on 63.2 percent shooting to go into halftime down just 60-57.
Booker led all scorers with 22 in the half, while Antetokounmpo put up 20. Both teams committed more than 10 turnovers but shot better than 50 percent from the field.
The Bucks regained some momentum in the third, thanks in large part to Antetokounmpo, who not only scored 10 points but also dished five assists. Milwaukee led 95-83 going into the fourth.
Phoenix wouldn’t go away. The Suns scored eight straight points to cut their deficit to just seven with 7:28 to play on a 3-pointer by Gillespie.
Milwaukee committed four turnovers in the fourth quarter alone and 20 on the night. Phoenix also collected 15 offensive rebounds and finished with a 24-3 edge in second-chance points.
The margin was just four with 1:20 to play after an Allen trey, but a Rollins 3-pointer and dunks from Lopez and Prince sealed the Bucks’ victory.
Milwaukee earned a split of the two-game season series after Phoenix defeated the Bucks eight days earlier.
–Field Level Media
