Something must have been in the NBA MVP candidates drinks before their collective Game 3’s. Giannis Antetokounmpo struggled from the start of the game to finish last night with only 14 points and 10 rebounds. The same could be said for James Harden who shot 3-for-20 from the field. Weird night maybe? Stars aligned too closely? No matter the case for the Bucks, they did not need Giannis tonight. Bucks took care of business again beating the Detroit Pistons for the third time to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. This is the third straight game where Milwaukee won by double-digits.

Player of the Game: Brook Lopez – What a game from Splash Mountain. He had 19 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. Lopez is one of the best players for this matchup against the Detroit Pistons because he frustrates the living hell out of Andre Drummond. He put a clown suit on Drummond time after time. It’s amazing to watch him work against the former top 10 pick. Lopez picked up his scoring tonight, and Milwaukee needed it from him. I always like Brook nights when he does it in multiple ways and not just the three-point line.

Honorable Mention: Khris Middleton – Will people actually say nice things about Middleton or do we have to wait for a big game situation? Again, Khris Middleton plays a strong playoff game on Saturday night. Middleton finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He made three 3-pointers and played a large role in Milwaukee’s victory tonight. It is ions ago, but Midds has to feel good giving to the team that traded him away for Brandon Jennings.

Positive; 3rsan stepped early on – To me, the biggest part of this game was Ersan Ilyasova making three 3-pointers to start the game. Pistons started off pretty hot from the field as you would expect them to. Home game. Blake Griffin comes back. But Ersan kept things around a tie game due to his three-point shooting. That sucked the air out of Detroit’s hype, and Milwaukee started to take over in the second quarter. Ersan finished the game with 15 points.

Negative: Are we worried about Giannis? – Some people have said that Giannis might be hitting that breaking point of feeling run down and tied. If that’s the case, I honestly rest him in Game 4. What do they have to lose? If Milwaukee drops the game, they go back to Fiserv Forum where they lost five times all year. If they win, that’s more time off for Antetokounmpo. It would never happen in the playoffs, but he needs to manage his body a little different during the playoffs.

Highlight of the night: Giannis may have struggled but this Eurostep is nice.

Eurostepping through Motown 👀#FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/CgsZP7iEds

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 21, 2019

Next up: Milwaukee goes for the sweep on Monday night versus the Pistons. We’ll if the Bucks can win their eighth straight game versus Detroit.