Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 122-101 win over Portland Trail Blazers

All-Star pushes

With Antetokounmpo back to his normal self, he had plenty of help in the Bucks’ supporting stars in Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton. Just as they had done the previous night, the duo showed out and equally shined just as the reigning MVP did to combine forces and score 91 of the team’s 122 total points for the night.

Starting with Bledsoe, the 30-year-old toughed out a tough start for the night as he was limited to just nine points over the first half. The former Wildcat picked it up and then some over the second half by steamrolling through the Blazers’ perimeter defenders on his way to the basket to put down multiple and-1 buckets and finish with 14 paint points for the contest.

Bledsoe paired that with a pair of triples and swatted away two shot attempts, including a forceful mid-range jumper on veteran Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony.

The point guard finished with 29 points on 20 shots (3-of-5 from three, 4-for-5 from the foul line), four rebounds as well as four turnovers, three assists, two blocks and was a +16 in over 27 minutes of run.

Switching over to Middleton, the All-Star swingman was dialed in early on with his touch from beyond the arc hitting his first two triples in a matter of 56 seconds midway through the first quarter to power a 11-0 run from the Bucks following a timeout.

That was the start that Middleton needed to smoothly operate with the ball in his hands and he comfortably took advantage of defenders to put in an easy scoring outing from the mid-range area. And it led to a rare night as Middleton didn’t finish with a paint bucket for just the second time this season.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from posting 30 points on 17 shots (4-of-4 from downtown, 4-for-4 from the free throw line), four rebounds, two assists and was a +16 in just over 28 minutes of run.

With the Bucks wanting a second All-Star to accompany Antetokounmpo in what will be his fourth straight All-Star appearance, both Bledsoe and Middleton are throwing their hat in the ring with the strong string of performances they’ve shown recently to garner consideration.