The Phoenix Suns got exactly what they needed Monday in Las Vegas: a win, a response and a pair of frontcourt standouts who kept Milwaukee pinned down around the rim.
Phoenix beat the Bucks 95-88 in its third Summer League game, moving to 2-1 in Las Vegas. Khaman Maluach and Koa Peat were the driving force, controlling the paint on both ends and combining with Koby Brea for 59 points. Brea, after a rough start to summer league, came through late with two big triples that helped the Suns close it out.
The Suns had to answer plenty of pressure along the way. After a shaky offensive showing the day before against the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix spent much of this one trading blows and trying to keep Milwaukee from taking over. It did that, in part, by leaning on Maluach and Peat, who kept forcing the issue inside and gave the Suns a steady source of offense.
Early on, Rasheer Fleming gave Phoenix a lift by hitting two threes in the first seven minutes, a welcome sign after his struggles in the first few games. Even with that spark, the Suns were only 5/16 from the field to start. On the other side, former Arizona guard Brayden Burries was aggressive for the Bucks, scoring eight points with two threes.
Milwaukee led 22-19 after the first quarter.
Maluach then started to take over. After some uncertainty about whether he would play, he made his presence felt in the first half by drawing fouls, defending hard and working effectively in the pick-and-roll.
That helped Phoenix regain the lead early in the second quarter. Brea also started to settle in, knocking down a few triples after his early summer league struggles had raised some concern in Suns circles.
At halftime, Phoenix was up 45-44, with Peat and Maluach accounting for nearly half the team’s scoring thanks to their physical work inside.
Peat opened the second half by going right at the rim, and Phoenix kept leaning on its young bigs as the game stayed tight. Burries continued to keep Milwaukee in it, but Maluach’s energy helped the Suns build a little separation before the fourth quarter, taking a 69-60 lead into the final period.
The Bucks weren’t done. They ripped off a 15-6 run in the first four minutes of the fourth to tie the game, and with a little more than three minutes left, Milwaukee had nudged ahead 85-84. The crowd was fully into it by then, and the game turned into a grind.
That’s when Brea finished the job. Down one, he buried back-to-back triples to put Phoenix back in front for good and seal the victory.
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Suns Offseason Leaves One Huge Question Hanging Over Devin Booker
The Suns spent the offseason trying to steady a roster that has been reshaped around Devin Booker, re-signing Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Mark Williams while bringing in Luke Kennard and swinging the trade for Miles Bridges. Phoenix also moved on from Grayson Allen and Royce ONeale, part of a wider reset that still leaves Booker as the focal point of everything the team wants to do on offense and in the half court.
What makes the picture more complicated is that the supporting cast around him is still very much in flux. Bridges arrives with off-court baggage that will keep attention on him for reasons the Suns would rather avoid, while the summer offered a glimpse of possible internal help from Khaman Maluach and Koa Peat. If either young player can grow into a real rotation piece, it would ease some pressure, but for now Phoenix is still waiting to see whether the offseason actually solved enough around its star. [Read more 🡒]
Two Young Suns Are Already Forcing An Uncomfortable Rotation Question
Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat have spent Summer League making the kind of impression that can complicate a coachs depth chart before the real games even begin. Fleming has flashed the defensive presence and scoring upside that make him look more than like a developmental flier, while Peat has brought the kind of rebounding and relentless energy that tends to stick with decision-makers long after July ends.
For the Suns, the bigger question is not whether either young player has looked good in a summer setting, but how that translates once the rotation tightens and the competition changes. Fleming and Peat have both put themselves in the conversation for more regular-season minutes, and even if Summer League is an imperfect measuring stick, their play has at least created an uncomfortable kind of pressure on a roster that still has established names ahead of them. [Read more 🡒]
Suns May Have Made Their Smartest Aaron Gordon Decision Yet
Phoenix once spent time as a possible landing spot for Aaron Gordon, a fit that made sense for a team looking for a rugged forward who could defend, finish and fit alongside star talent. Instead, the Suns went another direction, adding Miles Bridges and then using the draft to bring in Koa Peat, a rookie whose early Summer League play has already started to turn heads because of how closely his game resembles the kind of versatile forward Phoenix once had in mind.
Peats encouraging start gives the Suns something more interesting than a simple fallback plan. With Dillon Brooks and Bridges helping the club stay competitive now, Phoenix also appears to be layering in younger talent for what comes next, and that is where the Peat storyline gets intriguing. If his early flashes keep building, the Suns may have found a version of the Gordon idea without having to pay the price a trade for the veteran would have demanded. [Read more 🡒]