Brogdon, Antetokounmpo rally Milwaukee Bucks past Phoenix Suns 100-96

For being just two games out of a playoff spot in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t appear too interested in the whole making-the-playoffs thing in the 1st half. That changed in the 2nd half, as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Malcolm Brogdon pushed the Bucks past the Phoenix Suns 100-96 even as Milwaukee once again did its best to give away a game late.

Trailing 97-88 with 2:24 to play in the game, the Suns rattled off eight unanswered points, including two on a fortuitous bounce on an alley-oop attempt for Marquese Chriss, who had six of those eight points late. However, after being fouled with 30 seconds to play and Phoenix down 97-96, Chriss would have his own Devin Booker moment and miss both free throws.

Milwaukee answered on the next possession, as Brogdon found Tony Snell for a corner 3-pointer with 8.3 seconds remaining to put the Bucks ahead for good.

Brogdon, who was hampered by foul trouble early, entered the 3rd quarter with 6:06 remaining and sparked a 21-10 run to help the Bucks take a 77-73 lead into the 4th. He finished the game with 15 points and a team-high seven assists, playing the important minutes down the stretch. Who could have seen this coming from the rookie?

Antetokounmpo finished with a game-high 28 points (15 in the 3rd quarter) to go along with his eight rebounds and six assists. Michael Beasley was one of the few Bucks who showed up to play in the 1st half for Milwaukee, scoring 11 points. He finished with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field.

Overall, the Bucks shot 51.3 percent from the field.

The Suns were led by T.J. Warren’s 23 points, but the story once again was Alan Williams, who finished with a career-high 17 points to go along with 15 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Eric Bledsoe had an off night but managed to finish with 11 points and nine assists.