Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks met last Friday at the Fiserv Forum. It was an ugly game for Atlanta. They received an ass-kicking that started when the ball was tipped. Atlanta hoped to avoid that when Bucks came to visit on Sunday afternoon. They did for two and a half quarters until Milwaukee pulled away in the fourth quarter leading to a strong victory for the Bucks. They win 133-114 and avoid losing two straight games yet again. Milwaukee had four of their five starters in double-figures as the Bucks played strongly in this one.

Player of the Game: Giannis Antetokounmpo – There are different Giannis games and not everyone is similar to the last one. Giannis did not play on Friday. He still had a bit of soreness heading into this game. But he did not show it on the court. Antetokounmpo finished with 33 points and six rebounds. The impressive thing about Giannis’ night was he found his way to the free throw line 19 times. That’s an absurd amount. He forced contact from Atlanta’s young guys, and the refs rewarded him. He made 14 which is slightly above his average.

Silver Star: Eric Bledsoe – What a sneaky great game for the Bledshow. He finished with 24 points and 10 assists with no turnovers. He did it in only 26 minutes as well. Bledsoe continues to make a case for Mike Budenholzer to give him more trust after George Hill did take some of Bledsoe’s clutch minutes in the Toronto game last week. Bledsoe wants to establish that he’s the guy to lead this team in the final moments of a game. He played really well against Atlanta, and I hope to see it more from him.

THing I liked: Having D.J. Wilson back is nicer than expected – Look we’re all excited about D.J. Wilson’s season and how the coaching staff unlocked his talents. But you didn’t realize how much you missed him until today’s game. He played a great 17 minutes with eight points including the dagger three to push this lead out in the early fourth quarter. Wilson did a great job on talented center John Collins as well. He is an asset to this Bucks team.

Thing I didn’t like: Keep the anger within yourself – I don’t know if it were the refs or the players yet Milwaukee needs to keep their composure a little better than what did last night. Bucks had two technicals in the second half – Giannis and Brook Lopez, and while it didn’t impact the game, Atlanta could have definitely used that to go on a long run. Both players need to reign it in a bit.

Highlight of the night: Giannis pass game continues to be spicy. What a dish to Bledsoe.

When it’s cold, but you feel the heat!! 🔥#FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/ZaBW8fTw2X

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 13, 2019

Next up: Bucks head home for one game to face Miami on Tuesday night. Bucks own the Heat a little payback after the disastrous game in South Beach. Miami is one of those teams that is a bad matchup for Milwaukee. Hopefully, they can find a way to keep it going against a Heat team that’s been playing much better of late.

Charlie.