The Phoenix Suns closed Monday’s Summer League game on an 11-1 run to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 95-88 at Cox Pavilion, improving to 2-1 in Las Vegas on the second night of a back-to-back.
Khaman Maluach carried the win at both ends, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks a night after putting up 15 points and 15 boards in the loss to New Orleans. Rookie forward Koa Peat added 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting with six rebounds and two steals, and Koby Brea matched him with 19 of his own on 6-of-11 shooting from three.
The game stayed tight for 45 minutes — nine ties, 18 lead changes, and neither side ever led by double digits. Milwaukee took an 87-84 lead with 2:30 remaining before Phoenix shut the door, holding the Bucks to a single point the rest of the way. The margins underneath told the wider story: the Suns outrebounded Milwaukee 52-39 and out-assisted them 22-15. Brayden Burries led the Bucks with 23 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.
For a Phoenix front office that spent the last two summers rebuilding around size and touch rather than star salaries, this is the July it hoped to see. Maluach has now stacked consecutive dominant interior games against different frontcourt looks, and Peat has scored in double figures in three straight since his 17-point debut against Portland. The pairing controlled the paint on a night the jumpers were only intermittently falling, which is the kind of floor a young frontcourt needs before anyone talks about a ceiling.
Phoenix plays its fourth Summer League game Wednesday at Thomas & Mack Center.
For fantasy purposes, Maluach is the name to move on. Back-to-back games of double-digit rebounds with six combined blocks make him a legitimate late-round shot-blocking target in redraft if the rotation opens, and his dynasty arrow is pointing up. Peat is a dynasty stash whose two-way summer has been steadier than his draft-night scouting suggested, while Brea’s shooting keeps him on deep-league watch lists only.
