The Milwaukee Bucks will host the Phoenix Suns in about an hour for a crucial regular season contest. The game is more important for the Suns, who are looking to avoid play-in contention before the regular season ends. However, the Bucks will, by no means, make it easy for the road team to win at Fiserv Forum. The contest promises to be a thrilling encounter, so much so that its potential outcome recently led to a back-and-forth between NBA commentators Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
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The Boston Celtics legends seemed pretty excited about the interesting set of matchups on Sunday, especially the Bucks-Suns contest. Pierce picked the Suns to win on the road, highlighting the fact that they are completely healthy. However, he also pointed out that his prediction was swayed by the inconsistency showed by Milwaukee this season.
“I’m taking the Suns, I like what I’ve been seeing when they all healthy…The Bucks-I don’t know. They lose to the Lakers with no LeBron. I don’t know sometimes who they are,” The Truth told Garnett during a pre-game session of the All the Smoke podcast. “I don’t think that’s a good matchup for Milwaukee,” he added.
Pierce brought up the Bucks’ narrow 1-point loss against a LeBron James-less Lakers side on the 8th of March to display the Milwaukee side’s inconsistent form. The 46-year-old also pointed out that the Wisconsin side doesn’t have strong athleticism on the Wings. On the other hand, Phoenix is strong in Wing play, which might bother the Bucks during the contest.
However, Kevin Garnett seemed to disagree with his former teammate. “I got Milwaukee at home, man,” he said. While KG admitted that the Bucks have been inconsistent, he also pointed out that a lost game against the Lakers proves nothing. They have also defeated a lot of good Western Conference teams, like the LA Clippers, so Milwaukee is the safer bet at home.
Garnett is pretty accurate in his assessment. Even the mighty Boston Celtics have lost to a Lakers team that didn’t have both Anthony Davis and LeBron James. But that game doesn’t define their output throughout the season. An 82-game season will produce upsets and surprises. But still, it is unwise to discount the second seed in the East on their home arena.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is questionable for the game
The Bucks’ latest injury report has marked Antetokounmpo questionable for Sunday’s matchup. Even though Giannis has rarely missed games this season, it’s not uncommon for superstars to sit out games before the postseason begins, to avoid unnecessary injuries.
The Bucks are 9.5 games behind the top-seeded Boston Celtics. Even though the Cavaliers are not far behind them, the Milwaukee side definitely does not have the urgency to avoid the play-in tournament like the Suns do. So, we could very well see a repeat of the last Suns-Bucks matchup, where the Desert side had edged out a shorthanded Bucks team fairly easily.
