Milwaukee Bucks cannot help if a team decides to rest their starters. That is not something they control. Bucks cannot say ‘Hey, Atlanta! Make sure you play Trae Young and Clint Capela, please!’ And that’s not what Atlanta did. Hawks rested their starters against Milwaukee on Sunday night. And Milwaukee made sure that they did not stub their toe in this one. They blew out Atlanta winning 129-115 in a dominating performance snapping their two-game losing streak.

Player of the Game: Giannis Antetokounmpo – This guy is not shy to the top honors of the day. Giannis had a great game scoring 27 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and having eight assists. He nearly notched another triple-double. What I liked about Giannis is he was doing everything inside. He only shot two three-pointers. Giannis also didn’t shy away from contact as he went to the free-throw line 15 times. He made nine of them, so, about the average for Antetokounmpo. He also was great in terms of interior passing. Antetokounmpo found the right guy on multiple occasions down low.

Honorable Mention: Bobby Portis – After getting a shave in minutes against Dallas, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, Bobby Portis made his case on why he should be almost a pseudo starter on this team. He had a great first quarter where he could not miss and it carried him through the game. Portis finished with 21 points and six rebounds. Hopefully, this opens Mike Budenholzer’s eyes a little bit more when it comes to Bobby.

What went right for Milwaukee: Torrey Craig got some minutes! – We discussed last week how Budenholzer needed to make some adjustments with his second unit. He did just that. Torrey Craig played 13 minutes and got his praises sung by teammate Jrue Holiday. Budenholzer also extended Portis’ minutes and kept Thanasis Antetokounmpo on the bench. We’ll see if this continues against Toronto, but this seems to me like the ideal second unit for the Bucks.

Only 30 PITP for ATL tonight. I asked Bud about the influence of Brook Lopez:

"I think Brook early, without training camp or without the ramp up was maybe not his normal self. Tonight it felt like there were a lot of possessions where he made it really hard in the paint"

— Kane Pitman (@KanePitman) January 25, 2021

What also went right for Milwaukee: Brook Lopez’s defense – These were interesting comments from Budenholzer. Do I think part of this was due to Capela not being there? Yeah most likely. But Bud noticed Lopez wasn’t 100 percent himself which makes it interesting that he had him out there more than maybe he should have earlier in this year. This also goes back to Donte DiVencenzo’s comments about needing 20-25 games to feel right. They’re almost there.

Next up: Milwaukee heads to Tor… Tampa Bay to play the Raptors in their first matchup of the season. Milwaukee and Toronto have been classically opposed against each other in the last few years. This is definitely the worst Raptors squad that Milwaukee has faced. They could be without Kyle Lowry as well. Although, you should always expect the Raps to give Milwaukee a game.

Charlie.