Milwaukee vs. Minnesota: Balanced Attack Propels Bucks To Victory

It took two quarters for the Milwaukee Bucks to realize they were playing a Karl Anthony-Towns-less Minnesota Timberwolves, and they quickly took it to the home team in the third period. Here are three observations from Monday nights 134-106 victory, which marks three-straight for the Bucks.

Three Observations

The way Giannis Antetokounmpo is officiated is atrocious, to say the least. Granted, he is a safe bet to pick up at least one silly foul per game, but Monday night was a perfect example of how the NBA still has no idea how to officiate one of the league’s best players. There were a handful of “charge” calls that went against Antetokounmpo where Jordan Bell and others were flopping like a fish out of water. The flop by Bell at the end of the second quarter where he swept under Giannis could have seriously injured him. It was called an offensive foul at first but was overturned after review. Aside from the egregious officiating, the Greek Freak was toying with the hapless T-Wolves. He dropped a game-high 34 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists in 27 minutes. Oh, and he made 14-of-19 shots from the floor.

Eric Bledsoe was fantastic. He was aggressive early on, scoring Milwaukee’s first bucket of the game and looking to get his teammates involved. While he continues to struggle from deep (1-of-4), he was able to get to the rim whenever he wanted. When Bledsoe is locked in, the sky is the limit for this Bucks team. He finished with a season-high 22 points to go along with nine boards, and six dimes. Just all-star caliber stuff from Milwaukee’s point guard.

Milwaukee’s second unit was awful, aside from the performance of Donte DiVincenzo. While he did half a rough first half, he made up for it with a beautiful tip-in in the second and cooked in garbage time. In all, he scored 17 points and hit three three-pointers. Oddly enough, after two strong performances in consecutive games, Sterling Brown failed to see the floor even during garbage time. Fan favorite, D.J. Wilson did get some burn, though.

Bonus Bucks

• Khris Middleton was awesome in the second half and helped the bucks build a 20-point lead. He ended the night with 26 points while knocking down four triples. Did anyone else notice the Nike PE’s he was wearing? Those were FRESH.
• Brook Lopez was serviceable against Minnesota, scoring nine points and finishing plus-18.
• Shout out to Wesley Matthews who ended plus-29 while scoring only eight points.
• The Bucks free throw shooting continues to be...poor.