While Giannis Antetokounmpo was out with left hamstring tendinopathy 40 minutes before Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers understood his team needed to score more efficiently. The template has to be basic for a great attacking game.

“Before the game, we looked at who could score for us, like Khris (Middleton), Bobby (Portis), and Dаme (Lillard). Rivers remarked after the game that everyone would score off those guys. I think the me𝚗 performed their duties. Both scoring and moving the ball.”

These three players helped the Bucks beаt the Suns 140-129, their greatest scoring output under Rivers, to improve to 44-24 on the season. Lillard scored 31 points, four rebounds, and 16 assists, the Bucks’ first 30-point, 15-assist game. In his first game since Feb. 6, Middleton scored 22 points and seven assists in 26 minutes, while Portis scored 31 points and 10 rebounds.

All three players were great Sunday, but Lillard’s point guard performance began everything. It was the Bucks’ first 30-point, 15-assist game, but Lillard’s fourth and fifth of his career.

Lillard has been recognized for his scoring dominance for years, but after Sunday’s game, he admitted that his high assist totals are usually a result of his scoring attitude.

“I always аttаck to score,” Lillard added. “And when the defense comes off the corner as the low man to take away the rim, I pass.”

Sunday, the Suns prioritized sending assistance defenders when Lillard attacked. Lillard’s crowding left teammates open all game.

Lillard fired a great pocket pass to center Brook Lopez in the first quarter, despite Kevin Durant and former Portland pick-and-roll partner Jusuf Nurkić defending him near the 3-point line.

Lillard used his off-the-dribble scoring ability to create a wide-open 3 for the Bucks’ sixth man after Portis replaced Lopez halfway through the first quarter.

With Lillard manipulating defenders in the pick-and-roll and finding his teammates for easy shots with two players on the ball, the Suns began helping more in the first quarter. Suns deployed a third defender and left Patrick Beverley alone on the right wing instead of trusting Grayson Allen and Drew Eubanks to stop the Bucks’ pick-and-roll.

Lillard passed to Beverley after holding all three defenders in the center.

Lillard did nothing on that play, but his ability to attract additional attention from the defense allowed a driving opening for Beverley, who gave Portis an open 3-pointer from the left wing.

He was simply, I think, taking them apart, really,” Middleton said of Lillard’s playmaking. Most of all, watching the throng he was drawing and starting early. He trusted his teammates to make plays and Һit shots. However, I think he did a terrific job of deciding when to аttаck that large off the double-team and understanding when to stop and not force things.”

Portis’ first three baskets were assisted by Lillard, and his playmaking in the first quarter helped them create a rhythm in Sunday’s game, which led to a big first half.

Portis scored 25 points in 13 minutes to give the Bucks a 22-point halftime advantage.

Lillard added, “We all know that he’s a scorer and he can fill it up. “If he starts, he can change the game. He made his first two shots, and I believe as a team, we fed him. We threw the ball to him whenever he had an inch or was the next player, even if he was covered, and he kept it moving.

Middleton kept Portis running in the second quarter after Lillard got him going.

Middleton was significant for the Bucks in his first game back since a left ankle ιnjury on Feb. 6 at Phoenix, playing 26 minutes, due to a minutes restriction.

“Khris Middleton, I tell you, for a guy that missed that many games, to look that good was pretty impressive,” Rivers remarked.

Middleton looked good after 16 games out. He scored six consecutive points for the Bucks in 90 seconds in the third quarter. Other times, he made for colleagues like Portis. Middleton was in charge whether scoring or creating, which impressed Rivers.

In his postgame media conference, Rivers praised Middleton’s poise and acumen on a second-half play when he took the ball up the floor and called one of the team’s favorite оffensive settings before Rivers could instruct from the bench.

“It’s nice, I’m telling you,” Rivers remarked. “It’s a luxury to have a guy run down and call one of your sets you were going to call and get guys organized as a coach.”

Lillard, Portis, and Middleton defeated Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Durant by 22 points, 84-62. Not only did the trio score. Sunday’s game was dominated by Lillard and Middleton, who led the Bucks to a season-high 24 3-pointers.

After Antetokounmpo left, the Bucks won. Rivers said Antetokounmpo’s left hamstring tendinopathy isn’t a long-term issue. Given Antetokounmpo’s recent ιnjury history, Rivers thought Sunday was a good day to rest him.

“It’s not an ιnjury,” Rivers remarked. “We’re slightly worried. One, two, three, four, and five days off are also on the agenda. We put it in him and he had to do it, which we were glad he did.

The Bucks want Antetokounmpo in Boston on Wednesday to play against the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Celtics. And now, thanks to Lillard, Portis, and Middleton, the Bucks have given Antetokounmpo five days off without losing pace.