Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 116-82 win over Chicago Bulls

The Bucks’ cornerstones

Moving on from the Bucks’ trigger happy three-point ways, the tentpoles in the Bucks’ current foundation all looked to be in regular season form during Wednesday night’s win.

Starting with Antetokounmpo, the superstar and potential MVP candidate put up a game-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field (1-of-2 from three, 4-of-10 from the line), 13 rebounds, five assists, one turnover and was a +34 on the night.

The 23-year-old Greek phenom played up to his usual high level of play while also displaying some added elements to his game, most notably knocking down a pull-up three over his former teammate, Parker, midway through the second quarter.

Antetokounmpo also increasingly took to the added room to operate by dishing out some dazzling passes to teammates for easy scoring opportunities before his night came to an early end midway through the third quarter.

Along with Antetkounmpo, Eric Bledsoe had a strong outing as he had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-of-6 from three, 1-for-2 from the charity stripe), 10 rebounds, six assists, two turnovers, one steal and was a +29 in close to 21 minutes of action.

Bledsoe’s dynamic three-point shooting stood out as the main highlight in his night, which included both a pull up three in transition as well as a buzzer-beating half court heave that went down at the end of the first half.

Lastly, Khris Middleton rounded out the trio’s standout play with his usual steady, understated services, seeing that he turned in 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field (3-of-4 from deep, 2-of-2 from the free throw line), five rebounds, three turnovers, two assists and was a +39 in just over 20-and-a-half minutes of play.

Like Bledsoe, Middleton was at ease launching away shots from downtown while also supplying his brand of methodical mid-range scoring throughout the night.