Once upon a time, Bucks and the third quarter did not get along. They were not friends in the slightest. Bucks and the third quarter were referred to in the same way the Milwaukee Brewers are talked about with runners in scoring position. Or the Green Bay Packers under Mike McCarthy on 3rd and 1’s. The third quarter is where things went to shit. That hasn’t happened for the last two years. In fact, the third quarter became a friend of the Bucks. Milwaukee beat Chicago by 15 points in the third quarter and didn’t look back. Bucks are 30-5 to start the new year, and they’ve won 18 straight games against the division.

Player of the Game: Giannis Antetokounmpo – The return of Giannis was felt in this one. Antetokounmpo had another great game against the Bulls. Giannis scored 23 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. He showed no signs of a bad back. Giannis is too big and physical for the Bulls’ big men. They’re weak inside when it comes to dealing with Giannis or very foul happy. Thankfully for Antetokounmpo, he was nearly perfect at the line tonight.

Honorable Mention: Khris Middleton – Another good night for Middleton. He played well in this one. I liked the fact he showed more aggression on the offensive side of the ball. Middleton shot the ball 19 times which was five more than Giannis. We do not always see that out of Middleton. He scored 25 points to lead all Bucks scorers and added six boards plus four assists.

Welcome back: Antetokounmpo and Eric Bledsoe are back with the Bucks as they hit full strength when the new year starts tomorrow. Bucks do have Bledsoe on a minutes restriction as he comes back for his injury. That is not an issue for Milwaukee considering their opponents in the coming weeks.

One Thing to Watch: Ersan Ilyasova double-double streak – All of a sudden, Ersan Ilyasova has a double-double streak going for the Bucks. He scored 14 points tonight with 10 rebounds. This is the third game with a double-double for Ersan. We’ll see if he can challenge Giannis’ season-starting streak.

Next up: Bucks get a night off before welcoming the Minnesota Timberwolves to town. The T-Wolves are in rough shape. They were without Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins on Monday night, and they haven’t been winning many games. Towns and Wiggins may play on Wednesday, but if they don’t, it could be an ugly one at the Fiserv Forum.

Charlie.