Monday was a weird night for the Milwaukee Bucks. We already knew that Giannis Antetokounmpo would not be playing for the Bucks. But what we didn’t know is that Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, George Hill, Brook Lopez, and Marvin Williams would all sit out this game. Budenholzer did this against Atlanta late in March when he felt like the Bucks needed a break. Milwaukee had played six games in their last nine, and Budenholzer decided that everyone needed a rest. Bucks bench mob did what they could to keep this game competitive for 3.5 quarters before a final push from Denver resulted in a Nuggets win. This is the first three-game losing streak since February 2018 when Joe Prunty ran the team.

Player of the Game: Kyle Korver – The old man can still sling it when he needs to. Kyle Korver had 23 points off the bench including five 3-pointers. He shot the ball 15 times which is something I don’t think Korver expected to do at all this season. Korver did his best to will Milwaukee back into this one. Although, he missed a golden opportunity when Nikola Jokic fumbled a ball that weirdly went out near Korver. He missed it as the guard ran down the court. Denver picked it back up and found Jokic for three to go up eight… Brutal.

Honorable Mention: Sterling Brown – Man, there is something likable about Brown. I’m not sure if he will be back with the Bucks next season, but I do think if he plays for a lower level team like Washington, Brown will be a rock-solid role player. There are some flaws in his game, and part of the frustration is he doesn’t seem to fix them. Instead, Brown keeps playing his way of basketball. He scored 16 points with six rebounds.

One Thing I Liked: Bucks fought hard tonight, man – You cannot hate what the Bucks did tonight. They played a great brand of basketball. It might not have been the prettiest one, but they played hard all night long. Bucks knew they were up against it with their starting lineup, and they did not care. Proud of that.

One Thing to Note: Check out Connaughton and Matthews’ stat lines – Both Pat Connaughton and Wes Matthews had tough nights from the field. Something can be said for the theory that maybe Budenholzer knew his guys were rundown and needed a night off. Get ready for a big home stretch with Boston, Golden State, and Miami. With Steph Curry back, this will not be an easy one in the middle.

Next up: Bucks take a few days off then head home to play Boston. They are also in the same camp as Milwaukee when it comes to struggling. Boston lost four of their last five and play Indiana. We’ll see if both teams will be playing desperate on Thursday night.

Charlie.