Going into Game 3, Bucks fans didn’t know what to expect. Vegas liked them as a 1.5 favorites, but still, Bucks have laid some eggs at home in the past. With a sold out crowd full of black t-shirts, Milwaukee took center stage in the city. Everyone is a Bucks fan, and the crowd was bloodthirsty to begin the game and stayed that way until the game was out of reach for Raptors. Milwaukee throttled Toronto to the tune of 104-77 taking Game 3 and a 2-1 lead for the first time since 2001.

Player of the Game: Khris Middleton (Bucks) – Khris set the tone early for Bucks with 11 points in the first quarter. Middleton got going early and often providing the early scoring for this team. He was electric in the early goings and finished the game with 20 points plus seven assists. Toronto has zero answer for him. Their wing defenders are all too big to keep up with the speed, and when DeMar DeRozan guards him, he exerts a shit ton of energy on this side of the ball.

(Not) Player of the Game: No one – Bucks played about as good of a game as possible.

Player of the Game: Delon Wright (Raptors) – It’s apparent that Raptors are going to need a lot of Delon Wright if they want to win this series. Cory Joseph had been a Bucks killer in the past, but the length of Bucks has grown with Thon Maker in the middle. Delon Wright is 6’6 and can keep up with Bucks perimeter players. We’ll see if Duane Casey will play him more often.

Positive: Jason Kidd doing the damn thing – Okay, so I’ve been hard on Jason Kidd all year, but he coached his ass tonight. Kidd made key changes like Michael Beasley taking minutes from Mirza Teletovic. This worked out with Beasley having 13 points with three made 3-pointers. He punted out Spencer Hawes as well giving Thon Maker second quarter minutes for the first time in a long while. Thon is playing so well in this series, and it’s incredible to see a player grow up before our eyes.

Positive: Unbelievable Crowd at Bradley Center – Milwaukee gets a bad rap at times for sitting on their hands for games, no matter the size. That did not happen on Thursday night. It was a juiced up crowd ready to celebrate every big bucket. The crowd went wild at every possible juncture. The biggest shot of the game happened in the first quarter when Matthew Dellavedova hit the biggest shot of his Bucks career extending Milwaukee lead to 16. They never looked back. Crowd kept feeding them energy, and I can expect we’ll see that again on Saturday afternoon.

Next up: This is a big one. Milwaukee gets another huge crowd for Game 4 on Saturday. If Bucks win this one, they have full command of these series as it heads back to Toronto on Monday night. If Bucks lose, it’s anyone’s series. A part of me thinks Toronto will keep it close here, but Maker difference inside is the key this series plus the lineup changes make me feel better about Milwaukee for Game 4. We shall see.

Charlie.