Eric Bledsoe is an enigma. He helped Milwaukee a great deal last season as Milwaukee desperately needed a point guard. Bledsoe had an up and down year. People loved him, hated him and wondered how to feel about him especially after a woeful playoffs. Fast forward to this year with Bledsoe in a contract year, and he’s playing some of his best ball. My podcast partner Mitch Ross said this before the season began, ‘Has anyone ever considered Eric Bledsoe has never played for a good coach?’ That stuck with me all year. Bledsoe continues to play well for Milwaukee, and he had a great game against Orlando as the Bucks were victorious for the fourth straight time winning 118-108.

Player of the Game: Eric Bledsoe – What a night for the Bledshow. He finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He only missed two shots all game and made two threes. One of Orlando’s biggest weak spots is their guards especially point guard, and Milwaukee took advantage of that putting Bledsoe in great situations last night. Bledsoe had one of his best games of the year.

Silver Star: Giannis Antetokounmpo – Not a shocker that Giannis is still involved heavily with the Bucks winning a road game. Antetokounmpo had himself a typical Giannis performance. He finished with a double-double scoring 25 points, 13 rebounds and handed out five assists. Not having Aaron Gordon who missed the game with a back injury hurt Orlando. Gordon isn’t a great defender by any means, but he’s an athletic body to throw at Giannis.

Positive: Brook Lopez is a blocking machine – This year has been the year of the three for Brook Lopez, but he’s going back to his roots of late. Lopez had six blocks in the game versus Orlando which is a season-high for the Bucks center. In six of the last seven games, Lopez has two or more blocks. He is averaging 2.6 for the month.

Negative: Third quarter got a little hairy – Milwaukee had a nice 13-point lead going into halftime, and Milwaukee nearly blew it all in the third as Orlando mounted a comeback. Bucks were a little too sloppy in that period. Thankfully, they picked back up in the fourth quarter, and Milwaukee never let Orlando get closer than three yet this game could have easily been another blowout if not for the third.

Highlight of the night: Giannis with the big man dunk.

😱 Oh, oh, oh it's GIANNIS!! #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/LwxVdBqoXm

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 20, 2019

Next up: Bucks have an afternoon game at the Fiserv Forum playing the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic. It should be awesome to see Luka and Giannis go at it, but Milwaukee gets another team who is struggling of late. Mavs lost their luster from their fast start, and they’ve been awful on the road with only three wins all season.

Charlie.