Milwaukee Bucks looked like on their way to the first bad loss in quite some time on Friday night. They were dead in the water halfway through the fourth quarter. All of the sudden Milwaukee crept back into this game and started chipping away at Detroit Pistons lead. They found a way to force overtime then won in the extra period led by the Big 3 of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Thon Maker. Yes, you heard that right. Thon Maker. Milwaukee won 13 of the last 16 games, and they won 14 games in the month of March which is the most since February 1971. You know what happened that year, right?

Player of the Game: Thon Maker (Bucks) – What a game from the rookie from Sudan. Maker finished with a career-high 23 points. He made four threes and did from other spots on the floor. Maker is a true threat because he can run the floor with the wings and hang in the corner like the wings looking for his buckets. All of the players LOVE Maker, and I really think that helps him play so well out there. I don’t know if this will continue in the coming weeks, but he’s becoming a vital asset.

The best from Thon Maker as he logs a new career high with 23 points in the win over the Pistons!! #OwnTheFuture pic.twitter.com/uySoV55MLv

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 1, 2017

(Not) Player of the Game: Greg Monroe (Bucks) – When Maker is having the game of his life, Greg Monroe struggled out there. Let’s not overreact here. This is Monroe’s first single-digit game since March 4th against Toronto. He hasn’t had back-to-back single digit performances since mid-February. Monroe will still be a part of this team. Maker isn’t going to be able to do these things against every team in the league. They both can be special.

Player of the Game (Pistons): Tobias Harris (Pistons) – Tobes always seems to shine against Milwaukee. He is still one of the worst fucking defenders in the league, but Harris lets it sling against Bucks. Harris finished with 23 points and seven rebounds. He led the charge when Detroit took the lead in the second half along with other former Buck Beno Udrih. Thankfully, Milwaukee won this game because we didn’t need to bitch about how Harris and Udrih killed Bucks.

Positive: Bucks add another element to their playoff arsenal – The biggest takeaway from this game is Milwaukee has another major threat on their team for the playoff run. Maker can be used in more meaningful minutes than just the first part of the game. That’s a huge asset to have in the postseason where Milwaukee will need everybody.

Negative: Can’t have second half lapses – At one point of this game, Milwaukee held a major double-digit lead. While no lead is safe in the NBA, Bucks need to do a better job protecting. In an interesting moment at the end of the fourth quarter, Jason Kidd talked to the FS Wisconsin team saying how “His team thought they were the Golden State Warriors with all of the threes they were shooting and not playing Bucks basketball.” Kidd followed up and said “They found it late in the fourth again what it takes to win this game.” Clutch Bucks are the best Bucks. The fact this team could be a top four team if they close out like this all year is absurd.

Next up: Milwaukee will try to win for only the third time on Sunday when they play Dallas Mavericks at the Bradley Center in what figures to be another major crowd. Mavericks are coming off a loss to Memphis this evening. Bucks were handed a very early loss to this team in November. Dallas is one of the worst teams on the road this season with only 10 wins.