Xavier Roger
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PHOENIX – The Milwaukee Bucks continued their march to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference as they won for the fifth time in six games with a 116-104 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night at the Footprint Center.
The Bucks are the first team in the NBA to reach 50 wins this season and clinch a spot in the postseason. They remain three games ahead of the Boston Celtics in the loss column with a 50-19 record. The Suns dropped to 37-32.
Bucks first to clinch playoff berth
The Bucks have kept their eyes on the long-term goal all season, which has been playoff basketball. All the steps along the way, from roster changes to injury management to play style adjustments have been done with that mind. After ascending to the top spot in the Eastern Conference they’ve been asked about seeding and home court advantage, questions they’ve acknowledged but largely pushed aside with an eye on the bigger picture.
But on Tuesday, a piece of the bigger picture fell firmly into place as the Bucks became the first team in the NBA to formally punch their ticket to the 2022-23 postseason.
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There are still 13 games left in the regular season, and the focus does indeed turn a bit more squarely toward solidifying home court advantage. It is the next regular season step in the process of getting to the playoffs on a roll.
Giannis Antetokounmpo posts back-to-back dominant games
Antetokounmpo returned to the court for the first time since March 5 on Monday night in Sacramento and scored 46 points in 34 minutes, and he backed that up with a 36-point night against the Suns on Tuesday. It was the fifth set of back-to-back games he’s played, and the Bucks are 10-0 in those games. (He has missed one or both games of four others, and the Bucks are 3-1 in the second game of those sets.)
Phoenix struggled to slow down Antetokounmpo on the defensive side, especially when he drew two first-quarter fouls on Suns center Deandre Ayton. That forced the Suns to put smaller players on the 7-footer, and they did about as well as expected.
Antetokounmpo scored 20 points in 15 first-half minutes in helping the Bucks to a 57-48 lead at the break, making 7 of his 11 shots and 6 of 10 free throws. He also pulled down nine rebounds and had five assists – all of which led to 3-pointers.
He scored 14 second-half points and helped the Bucks hold off a late Suns charge by assisting a Wesley Matthews 3-pointer and then scoring five straight points to keep game tied at 92.
Antetokounmpo nearly recorded a triple-double with eight assists to go with his 11 rebounds, but he was just 14 for 24 from the free throw line.
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