Milwaukee Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo in the game on Saturday night as he was out with ‘Knee soreness.’ It really felt like a game off with a daunting schedule on the horizon. This ended up being a good spot for Antetokounmpo to get a game of rest. While this could have been a loss for Milwaukee, they ended up having an 18 point second half lead against Charlotte in the third quarter. But Milwaukee ran out of gas as the third went on, and Charlotte came back to sneak this one out against Milwaukee. Even though Giannis didn’t play, you need to win this basketball game.

What the hell was Khris Middleton thinking?
Here’s the thing, Khris Middleton had a great game. He dropped 31 points in what continues to be a hot stretch for him. Middleton played really well as the number one option tonight, but still, when it mattered the most, he made a questionable decision. Middleton went hero ball in the final 20 seconds while Charlotte’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was all over him. He needed to pass that ball.

The DeAndre Liggins experiment is over
Like Jon Horst did with Gary Payton II, he needs to do the same thing with DeAndre Liggins to get Jason Kidd to stop playing him. He adds nothing to the team at this point. I liked what Liggins did to start the year, but Milwaukee has better options. Sean Kilpatrick continued to show some flashes in his second game, and Rashad Vaughn are both more useful at this point.

Sean Kilpatrick is the irrational confidence the bench needs
It appears that Milwaukee might finally have a guy off the bench that lets it fly whenever he gets the ball. I love it. Bucks needed more of that on their second unit. Kilpatrick had 11 points in 12 minutes tonight. He’s going to have a night soon where he carries the team with 15 to 20 points and ends up being the difference maker. Love watching him play.

Next up
Milwaukee heads home to play Chicago on Tuesday night for their second meeting of the year with the Bulls. I’ll be in the house which hasn’t been a good thing for Milwaukee. I’m 0-4 for on the year. We’ll see if that streak can be broken on Tuesday night.

Charlie.