Milwaukee Bucks have a tough December. There are games on their schedules where they are likely losses, wins or either/or games. Portland fell in the final category. They split last year’s two games and both were tight. Milwaukee Bucks pulled away in the third quarter and stayed in command to win 115-107 with a big game from Jabari Parker and a triple-double from Giannis Antetokounmpo

Players of the Game: Jabari Parker & Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) – Both players deserve the honor tonight. Parker had 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting. Portland didn’t have an answer for him. They really don’t size well with Parker, and Bucks found a way to exploit it. Giannis had another triple-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists with four blocks and two steals. It felt like a quiet night for Giannis, yet he had his hand all over this game.

(Not) Player of the Game: John Henson – With how many points in the paint the Bucks got in this game, you would have expected a bigger game from Henson, but he only scored seven points with only four field goal attempts. He was highly ineffective against a Blazers team who isn’t good against big men.

Player of the Game (Blazers): Damian Lillard – What a player. Dame had 22 points with five threes in the first half. Lillard couldn’t be stopped, and to Bucks credit, they adjusted their defense and slowed him down so he finished with 30 points. This is one of the reasons Milwaukee won this game.

Positive: Bench Mob doin’ it big – Bucks got a great game from their bench with three players in double-figures – Malcolm Brogdon, Greg Monroe and Michael Beasley. When Milwaukee gets three bench scorers to combine for 40 points, that’s going to win some ball games. While Henson didn’t take advantage of Portland’s weak post, Greg Monroe did with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Negative: Jason Kidd’s rotations – Not a surprise that this hits the negative. Kidd put Parker on the bench for the whole second quarter. Look, I get there are some players who need more time off than others, but he needs to let Parker cook. He had 11 points in the first then Kidd put him on the bench. That’s frustrating.

Next up: Bucks stay home to host Atlanta. They nearly stole one in Georgia last month after trailing by 20, Bucks came almost all the way back to win the game. Hawks have crashed back to earth since the last time these two teams met. Atlanta just snapped their seven-game losing streak last night versus Miami.

Charlie.