Studs and duds from the Milwaukee Bucks' resounding win over the Philadelphia 76ers

Milwaukee Bucks v Philadelphia 76ers
Milwaukee Bucks v Philadelphia 76ers / Tim Nwachukwu/GettyImages
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The Milwaukee Bucks have returned to regular season basketball in fine fashion following the NBA All-Star break. On Friday, they overcame the tough test of the Minnesota Timberwolves and on Sunday, they went to Philadelphia to comfortably beat the 76ers 119-98.

Much has been made of Doc Rivers' first few weeks as Bucks head coach, and these two performances have both been exceptional on both ends of the floor. Granted, Philly was without Joel Embiid, but they still pose a threat, and Milwaukee got the job done emphatically to win by 21.

Only Tyrese Maxey could score over 20 points for Philadelphia as the Bucks held them to 37.1 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from deep. Milwaukee got off to a hot start, taking the first quarter 35-21 and then 34-27 in the second quarter. A rally from the Sixers came in the third, but the Bucks held strong and allowed them to score just 16 points in the final quarter.

As a team, Milwaukee shot 54.4 percent and 48.6 percent from three. The only mark on the box score is the 18 turnovers to Philly's 10. In the end they didn't mean much but on another night against a different opposition they need to take more care in possession.

With the round-up out of the way, let's take a look at three studs and three duds from the Bucks' resounding win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Stud - Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo's push for his third MVP trophy continued with another great performance, finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. He shot 58.8 percent from the field, hit one of his two shots from deep and hit nine of 12 from the free throw line as he led the game in scoring.

The most impressive moment was his full-court pass to Brook Lopez with seconds remaining in the first half. As we all know, his passing is arguably the msot underrated part of his game, and he is beginning to pass out of drives to the basket impressively and put himself amongst the best passers in the league. Six turnovers is a slight knock on this, but his aggression driving to the basket and passing out of shots can always lead to turnovers.

Defensively, we know what he brings to the table, and even though he only finished with the one block, he still was effective in contesting shots and being a presence in the paint.

On the season, he is now averaging 30.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists which is a career high and shows how he is elevating his game. His two-man game with Damian Lillard is continuing to improve and he showed support publicly for his teammate and backing him to improve after coming under some criticism early on in the season.

Giannis is really cementing himself as one of if not the MVP front runner and dominant performances like this and in the win over the Timberwolves, there is no reason to doubt him taking home the award for the third time in his career.

Stud - Damian Lillard

Off the back of his All-Star Game MVP and winning the 3-point Contest, Damian Lillard has carried on that same form back into the regular season with two really strong showings in these two games. In Philly, he dropped 24 on 53.3 percent shooting and hit four shots from beyond the arc. He added to this with seven rebounds, nine assists and two steals.

His start to the game was electric, scoring the first seven points for the Bucks and ending the first quarter as the game's leading scorer with nine. His ability to hit shots from way behind the line is incredible, and in this game, there were multiple occasions in which he hit shots from a few feet behind the arc.

It's clear to see that when he gets going and has his confidence flowing there isn't a shot that he can't hit. He finished the game with the the best +/- in the game with a huge +37, and that shows just how integral he was to this big win.

Lillard has had many critics this season, and, of course, his production moving from being the superstar of a team to a contender is a big reason why, but he is still putting up 24.6 points on over 40 percent shooting. If he takes the advice that Shaquille O'Neal gave him after the ASG along with Giannis, then the league really shouldn't count out the Bucks anytime soon.