The Milwaukee Bucks demolished the Phoenix Suns in a game that felt like no one really wanted to play.
An outmatched Phoenix Suns team battled the best team in the league, the Milwaukee Bucks, in a game that started at noon Arizona time on Super Bowl Sunday. Well, “battled” is a strong word. There was never a question who was going to win this one from the opening tip.
First off, why in the world is the NBA playing games on Super Bowl Sunday? Granted, the times don’t directly compete with the most-watched television event of the year, but it feels like a good day to skip on the calendar.
A large chunk of the Phoenix Suns actually did skip it. The Sun’s injury report looked like that of a football team.
Six, yes, six players were out due to injury. Frank Kaminsky, Aron Baynes, Cameron Johnson, Dario Saric continue to sit out with their injuries while Ty Jerome and Ricky Rubio added themselves to the DNP list for this game with a sore calf and sore ankle respectively.
That left nine players from the standard roster available to play against the Bucks, so the Suns called up Jalen Lecque and two-way players Jared Harper and Tariq Owens from their G-League affiliate.
Owens saw his first NBA minutes in the second quarter and got the pleasure of guarding the reigning NBA MVP and everyone’s favorite freak of nature, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Those few minutes went about how you would expect the best player in the league versus some dude from the G-League would go.
He did get his first bucket of this NBA career, which came off an offensive rebound put-back, so good for him.
Jalen Lecque saw some time as well in what was technically the second game in his NBA career, after getting in the game in a dribble-out situation against the New York Knicks.
Lecque made Twitter buzz last week when he threw down an absurd up-and-under reverse dunk, showcasing the main reason the Suns see promise in his skill set. He also got his first NBA points so, again, a small highlight on an otherwise forgettable day.
Harper got some garbage time in the end but didn’t score.
Harper, Lecque, and Owens may have been the only people excited to play this game. It’s not that everyone else didn’t try, it felt like it was a game that was simulated on NBA 2K.
The stars got their averages, the best team won by a lot, all just in time for everyone can go back home and watch the Super Bowl.
This is a very esoteric reference, but it felt like the cornhole equivalent of the Bucks just practicing airmails against the Suns.
Did anyone appreciate that? No one? Okay. It’s time for me to go to my own Super Bowl party anyway. Go Chiefs.