Milwaukee Bucks were playing in their first game without Khris Middleton. Bucks have to learn to play without their All-Star for the next three to four weeks. Donte DiVencenzo started for Milwaukee in what we will be a brand new world for this Bucks team. It was not the prettiest game you’ll ever see out there. Giannis Antetokounmpo played like a star with 38 points and helped pushed the Bucks past the pesky Bulls last night, 125-114. Milwaukee won two straight and won four of their last five games.

Player of the Game: Giannis Antetokounmpo – This is the sixth straight game where he had 30 points or more. He will go for the ‘modern’ record which is a weird thing FSN did, but Giannis is still miles away from Kareen’s team record of 16. Giannis could have had more points. He missed nine free throws last night. Bulls had zero answers for him. The Greek Freak finished with 38 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Honorable Mention: Eric Bledsoe – Seems to be a theme with these posts with Giannis taking home the POG and Bledsoe getting the other honor. I’ve been telling y’all that Bledsoe has been good in the last couple of weeks. He played awesome last night with 31 points, eight assists, and three rebounds. You assumed that his scoring would go up with Khris Middleton going out. Bledsoe could not be stopped off the dribble by the Bulls’ guards.

One Thing I Liked: Bucks found a way to do without the three-ball – Look, I love the 3-pointer and love the let it fly mentality. Last night, it wasn’t working. Bucks only made six threes all night to Chicago’s 19. It was an old school Jason Kidd game. Still, Milwaukee won this basketball game. Bucks attacked the rim and took care of business against the baby Bulls. That’s impressive. Milwaukee is not that type of team, but they put a different outfit last night to become it.

One Thing I Did Not Like: Have to be crisper in the fourth quarter – Where the Bucks suffered the loss of Middleton was in the fourth quarter. They struggled not having the calming presence of Middleton out there to settle everyone down. DiVencenzo might not be the answer in the fourth quarter. The moment looked a bit big for him in a tight ball game. I worry about this against better teams the Bucks face without Middleton.

Next up: Milwaukee heads to Indiana to take on the Pacers Saturday night. It will be the first matchup between Giannis and Malcolm Brogdon. Bucks get a break as the Pacers will be coming off a back-to-back as they head to Houston tonight to play the Rockets. If the Pacers win both games, they’ll be in first place… which will lead to rational takes, I’m sure.