Bucks at Suns
The Milwaukee Bucks remain comfortably atop the Eastern Conference and own the best record in the NBA, but losses in two of the last three games are concerning. The Bucks will try to bounce back from a 113-103 setback at the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday when they continue the three-game trip by visiting the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
The most concerning part of Friday's loss was superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo clutching his knee after a fall and limping after the game. "He made it look and sound like he was OK," Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters of Antetokounmpo. "Anytime anybody takes a fall - Giannis isn’t any different than anybody else, we need everybody - so yeah, it was pretty scary. Hopefully, everything is fine. We do have to protect him from himself, but pretty confident that he was OK to keep going." The Bucks could elect to sit their star on the front end of the back-to-back Sunday with a trip to Denver looming on Monday and Phoenix sitting 13 games below .500. The Suns snapped a four-game losing streak with a 127-117 home win over Portland on Friday behind a career-high 37 points from center Aron Baynes.
TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: FS Wisconsin, FS Arizona
ABOUT THE BUCKS (53-10): Antetokounmpo, who will reportedly undergo a precautionary MRI on his left knee, collected 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists on Friday but did not get enough help from his teammates as fellow All-Star Khris Middleton was held to 12 points on 5-of-19 shooting. "Khris has got to keep shooting," Antetokounmpo told reporters of Middleton, who went 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. "It doesn't matter if you're having an off night because you're one of the best players on the team, a rough night cannot stop you from being who you are. Even if you go 0 for 20, he has to keep shooting." Middleton is a combined 9-of-35 from the floor in Milwaukee's last two road games - both losses.
ABOUT THE SUNS (25-38): Baynes knocked down a career-high nine 3-pointers and went 12-of-23 from the floor while adding 16 rebounds in a career night on Friday. "Exactly how I drew it up this morning," Phoenix coach Monty Williams told reporters. "Aron go for 37, we'll take it. Nine threes, he got the guys going when he started dropping a few of them, and then we started running a few plays for him. I thought the big play was the one time he pump-faked and went down the lane and dunked it. That was a great read and I thought he made the right plays tonight. He didn't force many shots and the guys started looking for him." The Suns handed out 29 assists in the win, with Devin Booker (12) and Ricky Rubio (10) each finishing with double figures in the category.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks PG George Hill (groin) sat out the last two games and joins Antetokounmpo as day-to-day.
2. Suns C Deandre Ayton (ankle) sat out Friday and is questionable for Sunday.
3. Milwaukee breezed past Phoenix 129-108 at home on Feb. 2 as Antetokounmpo went for 30 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists in 31 minutes.