Suns' Late-Game Heroics Power Them to Victory over Bucks

Phoenix has now won four-straight games.

Mar 24, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) handles the ball against Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) during the second quarter at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- Devin Booker hit a game-winning jumper with 1.7 seconds remaining to give the Phoenix Suns (35-37) their fourth-straight win with a 108-106 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks (40-31) Monday night at PHX Arena.

Devin Booker sinks the go-ahead jumper, and the Suns are up 108-106 over the Bucks with 1.7 seconds left pic.twitter.com/2yQw2hfieO

— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) March 25, 2025

This was Suns coach Mike Budenholzer's first game against the Bucks since they fired him following the 2022-23 season.

Bradley Beal missed his fourth-straight game for the Suns with a left hamstring strain, while Damian Lillard was out for the third-straight game for the Bucks with right calf soreness.

Kevin Durant, who was named the Western Conference Player of the Week today, had another big game finishing with 38 points on 11-of-21 shooting (7-9 3PT), eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Booker posted his second consecutive double-double with 19 points (7-18 FG), 12 assists and seven rebounds. Ryan Dunn continued to bring energy to the starting unit with 12 points (5-7 FG) and nine rebounds, and Nick Richards had a 10-point,10-rebound double-double.

Giannis Antetokounmpo excelled for the Bucks with 31 points (12-19 FG), 10 rebounds and five assists. Brook Lopez picked up a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Gary Trent Jr. totaled 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting off the bench.

Quick Recap

The Bucks jumped out to a 30-25 lead after the first quarter behind 10 points by Antetokounmpo on 5-of-8 shooting. Milwaukee forced six turnovers by Phoenix and was winning the points off turnovers 11-2 through the first 12 minutes. Durant had a game-high 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting for the Suns.

Phoenix started the second quarter on a 6-0 run to retake the lead. The Bucks then responded to take a 58-54 advantage into halftime, as Antetokounmpo was up to 15 points, four assists and three rebounds and Lopez had 13 points and six rebounds. Durant led the Suns with 16 points and four assists, while Booker was right behind him with 15 points and five assists in the half. The Suns ended the half with 10 turnovers leading to 19 Bucks points.

The Suns held the Bucks to under 30% shooting in the third quarter and were ahead 81-78 going into the fourth. Dunn had arguably the dunk of the season for the Suns in the quarter with a posterizer over Antetokounmpo. Durant (29 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists through 3 quarters) and Antetokounmpo (24 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists through 3 quarters) continued to duel on both sides of the ball.

Milwaukee didn't let the Suns continue to pull ahead to start the fourth until a Dunn 3-pointer gave the Suns their then-largest lead of the game at six with just under six minutes left. The Bucks continued to fight back and a 7-0 run tied the game at 101 3:23 remaining. Milwaukee then took a two-point lead after Kyle Kuzma converted a four-point play with 1:22 after being fouled by Durant in the corner.

Durant responded with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 26 seconds left to put Phoenix up one. He then picked up a blocking foul on Lopez on the other end, who made one of two free throws to tie the game at 106 with 10.7 seconds to go.

Milwaukee then used its foul to give with 5.7 seconds left, and Phoenix called a timeout to draw up the game-winning shot from Booker.

Lopez missed a fadeaway that would have sent the game to overtime at the buzzer, and the Suns walked away with the win.

Suns win their fourth-straight game after Brook Lopez can’t convert the jumper on the final Bucks possession https://t.co/TAfordUb6G pic.twitter.com/cmOKj8Kl7V

— Brendan Mau (@brendan_mau) March 25, 2025

Next Up

The Suns wrap up their five-game homestand Wednesday night when they host the defending-champion Boston Celtics. Jayson Tatum went down with an ankle injury today for Boston.