Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns Preview: A Date with Icarus

The Milwaukee Bucks take on the Phoenix Suns in a deliciously early tip-off that features Jae Crowder facing his former team while playing for the team that bested them in the finals.

Where We’re At

The Bucks quack-smacked the Miami Heat on Friday night. It reminded me of the sage words from a random fan of The Ohio State Buckeyes football team when I bore witness to Wisconsin getting ripped to shreds: “When we play good offense and good defense, we’re unstoppable.” Never mind the tautology; this applied to the Bucks, who made an impressive number of threes and limited the Heat to paltry shooting. They upped their win streak to 13.

Perhaps more important than the win is the ever-evolving health situation. On the plus side, Bobby Portis returned to the floor looking fresh as a daisy, and Jae Crowder had an effective outing considering his long layoff from the game. On the minus side, although Giannis, being Giannis, played despite his recent wrist injury, he picked up another injury and exited the game. Although there was plenty of speculation about what he picked up (and how), he is listed as doubtful with a right quad contusion. Pat, Wes, and Mamu were also inactive, and Wes is listed as out with a right calf strain.

Meanwhile, the Suns are coming off a W against the Thunder in their first game back from the break. Devin Booker became the franchise leader in three-pointers, which is cool I guess. They’re sitting atop the morass of decent-enough teams in the East that could easily end up as the higher seed in a playoff series or miss the playoffs entirely. Of course, their recent acquisition of Kevin Durant probably makes the former more likely than the latter, if he is ever healthy. (He’s still out with an MCL strain, as is Landry Shamet with a sore right foot.) Therein lies the reference in the title; KD gives the Suns a wing, but in doing so, will they fly too close to the sun?

Player to Watch

I’m looking forward to seeing Jae in action against his former teammates. My sense is that they were not the catalyst for his schism with the organization, but I am hoping for some chirps regardless.

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