Eric Bledsoe is living his best life as they say in popular culture. He signs a big deal to stay with the Bucks, and he has not been hotter on the basketball court. After a tour de force on Wednesday night, Bledsoe followed it up with a huge game on Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Bucks looked dead in the water in the third quarter. They trailed by 10 points and didn’t seem to really have it in them to come all the way back to win this game. Not only did the Bucks win, but they won by double-digits in a great fourth quarter comeback that caused LeBron James to walk right off the court.

Player of the Game: Eric Bledsoe – Like we mentioned, Bledsoe has been a rockstar of late. He had 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists. It seems like he is everywhere on the court these days and playing with such a great amount of energy. In the third quarter, the Bucks point guard had scored or assisted on the last 19 points of the game. It was fitting that Bledsoe had the dagger three to end the game for the Bucks and Lakers.

Silver Star: Ersan Ilyasova – Here’s the thing. I did not think Ersan belonged on this court in the first half. The game looked way too fast, and he appeared to be out of sorts. In the second half, he played a great game. Ersan made a difference in the comeback of this basketball game. Ilyasova had 12 second-half points and finished with PER of +18, the highest on the team last night. He did a great job holding down LeBron as much as he could in that fourth along with getting a critical offensive foul call late in the game.

Positive: Doing it without Giannis again – Even though Giannis Antetokounmpo had 16 points and 15 rebounds, he didn’t really feel a part of this game. Sure, he had the big dunk against Mike Muscala, but it didn’t feel like Giannis played an integral role in bringing Milwaukee back in this game. This team deserves a ton of credit for winning three straight (Six overall but who’s counting?) without Giannis being at full go. That’s very impressive for the Bucks.

Negative: Small ball killed Milwaukee – I’m not sure if it’s a ‘way to beat the Bucks’ but it’s clear there are certain teams who have lineups where Milwaukee cannot do their normal thing with Brook Lopez. He only played 20 minutes last night. Lakers stayed small most of the night, and Lopez could not get on the court. Mike Budenholzer made the right adjustments to win this game in the fourth. This is going to be a talking point in the playoffs. If you can chase Lopez off the court with a lineup, that’s a great opportunity for your team.

Highlight of the night: Rest in peace, Mike Muscala. Death by Giannis dunking on you.

Next up: Bucks head to Utah for a back-to-back with the Jazz. This is a brutal travel schedule for Milwaukee. They’re in the third city in four nights and now they shift time zones as well. Jazz have been very good at home as of late. Bucks do not play well there. Last year was the infamous Giannis-Sean Sweeney argument. The last time Milwaukee won at Utah was 2001. Yes, it’s been that long.

Charlie.