Milwaukee Bucks had a tough task last night heading into Chicago without Giannis Antetokounmpo. Bucks have done decently when Giannis has been out this season, although, it’s been due in large part to playing inferior opponents. Bucks starting unit struggled mightily, and the game stayed close with the tanking Bulls. Thankfully, the Bucks bench came through in a major way with 70 points. They played great. It’s tremendous to see the second unit come up big for Milwaukee, and a part of me wonders if this could be a sign for the rest of the season.

Shabazz Muhammad out of goddamn nowhere
BAZZY! Where the hell did this come from? He played really well scoring 21 points in 20 minutes making nine of 12 shots with two made threes. Muhammad played his best game as a Buck. We’ll see if this means more minutes for him. In Minnesota, Muhammad could get on a heater for a couple of weeks. Granted, he can also go ice cold. You have to deal with the good and bad when it comes to an irrationally confidence guy.

Good to see Milwaukee realized you can shoot three pointers
Milwaukee is one of the worst teams at shooting three-pointers. They rank their the bottom of the league in that category which is a major issue in today’s NBA. It’s something Milwaukee will need to fix going forward to be successful. Bucks made 50% of their three-pointers last night going 15 for 30. Once again, the bench played a huge role in this effort. Between Tony Snell, Jason Terry, Brandon Jennings and Muhammad, the bench made 11 of the 15 made threes last night. Milwaukee needs more of this.

Disappointing first start for Jabari Parker
Milwaukee moved Jabari Parker in the starting lineup to replace Antetokounmpo, and it did not pay off. Parker only scored six points and missed seven of 10 shots. Parker never seemed to get in a rhythm out there. This was the first game since being back where he didn’t shoot a three. I’m not sure what happened there. He played 30 minutes for the second straight game which is encouraging

Next up
Milwaukee heads home to play San Antonio on Sunday afternoon in a key game for both teams fighting for a playoff spot. Spurs will likely not have Kawhi Leonard back, but Lamarcus Aldridge is on complete fire. Milwaukee does not have an answer for him.

Charlie.