The sound of Giannis Antetokounmpo making a run at the MVP is here. In the last month and a half, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been on a complete tear. He is playing amazing basketball. No one is actually on his level right now. And all of the sudden, the MVP buzz has come back. Now, I said I didn’t care about the MVP. Reason? No one in the NBA wins three straight MVPs. Not since Larry Bird in the mid-80s. But like Vincent Chase with Aquaman, I’m starting to want it. This is a new Giannis. Maybe Giannis 3.0 and he should get rewarded for it. Monday night against Washington was another example of Antetokounmpo’s dominance in the Bucks’ 133-122 win.

THREE STARS
Giannis Antetokounmpo – This is the third straight game for Giannis with a triple-double. No other Buck has ever done that. Giannis tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most triple-doubles in franchise history. Antetokounmpo finished this game with 31 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. He helped close out Washington yet again. Granted, this game wasn’t as tight, but Antetokounmpo led the squad yet again. This time around, he had a little more help, but still, it started with the Greek Freak.

TWO STARS
Brook Lopez – Mitch touched on this on the podcast yesterday, but Brook is starting to get his shit together a little bit. Lopez finished the game with 22 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks. He made 8-of-12 shots. They all came from inside the three-point line. Maybe Lopez needs to start doing this more often and attack the paint then maybe the three-point game will come back. If Lopez can give you even 10 to 15 a night, Milwaukee becomes really hard to beat.

ONE STAR
Turnovers – Way too many turnovers last night for Milwaukee. In a game where the Bucks were dominating Washington at certain points, there is no reason they should be minus two to the Wizards. That’s frustrating. This is one of the sneaky bugaboos for this Bucks’ team. Each of the Bucks’ starters had at least one and four had two. Can’t happen.

Next up
Milwaukee finishes their three-game road trip with a visit to Philadelphia. It is the first Bucks-Sixers matchup of the year and it will be on ESPN on Wednesday night. No Joel Embiid which is a bummer, but the Sixers are rocking right now. This will not be an easy one for Milwaukee. Our Bucks are in a no-win spot here. Win, and everyone goes ‘Well Embiid is out.’ Lose and everyone goes ‘Could you imagine what happened if Embiid played?’

Charlie.