Bucks vs. Suns Preview: Milwaukee Aims to Scorch Phoenix

As folks are mulling about what stores to brave on Black Friday, the Milwaukee Bucks are fresh off a spanking of the West’s best team, Portland, by a whopping 43 points. Tonight, they welcome a Suns team who certainly haven’t taken the type of leap their owner assuredly hoped for.

Bucks Update

Times are good around these parts. There’s not a whole lot else to it than how Brew Hoop BlogFather Part II Alex Boeder put it.

As of publication, no word if Donte DiVincenzo might be ready to go or not.

Player to Watch: Eric Bledsoe

Phoenix has been in search of a competent point guard all season since they entered the year basically without one sans rookie Elie Okobo. Now, they’re turned to Isaiah Canaan hoping he might provide some answers. On the Bucks side, Eric Bledsoe must be licking his chops. Not only will he get to feast on inferior talent offensively, but he should have a much easier night locking up defensively after an impressive effort against Damian Lillard.

Suns Update

After the arrival of Trevor Ariza, number one overall selection DeAndre Ayton and trusted wing rookie Mikal Bridges, the thought was that newly minted coach Igor Koskokov might be able to turn this sinking ship around in Phoenix. Unfortunately, that has not been the case thus far, as the suns are fresh off a 124-116 loss to the tanking Chicago Bulls. Their offensive and defensive ratings are both bottom-5 in the league, and they’re turning the ball over at the highest rate in the Association. Jamal Crawford is also spending his waning days in the league languishing on their bench, but at least the training staff and weather is nice!

Player to Watch: Devin Booker

Another guard built in the vein of Lillard or C.J. McCollum, Booker can light it up from anywhere on the court with his sharpshooting and quick trigger. He’s another guy who could theoretically hurt this Bucks team. What’s promising for the Suns is his rapid rise as a playmaker. His usage rate is essentially at the same level as last year, but his assist rate is up 10 points to 35.3%. He’s averaging 7.3 assists per game, but his turnover rate has increased as well. I’ll bet Budenholzer will have Bledsoe mirroring Devin Booker, so we’ll see if his defensive spree continues tonight.