Milwaukee Bucks were almost there. They almost finished off a two-game sweep of the Miami Heat. This would have been a true feather in the hat for the Milwaukee Bucks in the early part of the season. That didn’t happen. Milwaukee could not seem to find any offense early in the late third quarter and early fourth. This combined with the Miami Heat being out of their minds shooting the basketball did not work out well for the BUcks. Miami overpowered Milwaukee, 119-108. Milwaukee did not have the juice to finish this one off. But honestly, most would take a 1-1 split in Miami.

What went wrong for Milwaukee: Holiday and Middleton could not duplicate Tuesday night – In a weird twist of fate, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a solid game while his other starters did not. Khris Middleton had his first bad game of the season. Erik Spoelstra put Avery Bradley on him to start the game and that seemed to weirdly throw him off. Holiday struggled too in the second game of a back-to-back. Additionally, this is Milwaukee’s third game in their last four, so, there could have been some fatigue.

What went right for Milwaukee: Giannis had his first good game against Miami in awhile – Bucks’ radio broadcaster Ted Davis noted that Miami plays Giannis the toughest of any opponent. And for Antetokounmpo to notch a triple-double against these guys says a lot along with the 20 points. If Giannis learns how to be effective against Miami’s wall defense, that’s a big step forward.

One thing to wonder about: We’re gonna do this Thanasis thing, eh? – After DJ Wilson disappointed more than a stripper at Silk for the mid-afternoon crowd, Mike Budenholzer went with Thanasis Antetokounmpo as the backup big. He brings a lot of energy, but he’s not very good. Maybe the Bucks’ coaching staff has seen something in practice, or maybe this is Horst/Bud’s way to explore other options at the four. The Bucks are lacking a backup big and it’s hurting them in those minutes. We’ll see what happens on Friday with this spot in the rotation.

Player of the Game: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Honorable Mention: Tyler Herro – A quick note here about Herro’s night which was 21 points and 15 rebounds. Do you think Herro is going to punish Milwaukee every time for all the shit Badgers fans talked about him for a year? I’ll blame Badgers’ fans if I have to.

Next up: Good news for Milwaukee coming up. Their schedule gets much lighter. They’ve started with four out of five on the road and three against playoff teams from last year. They’re home on New Year’s Day to play the Chicago Bulls then welcome Detroit for two games. These are three games for the Bucks to get right and start figuring their rotations more.

Charlie.