Milwaukee torches a frigid Chicago with the three-ball
A star-depleted Milwaukee Bucks used a balanced effort to defeat the Chicago Bulls in their first visit of the year to the United Center, putting them at a season-high four games over .500. Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez each had 21 for the victors, while Nikola Vučević had 17 for the home team.
Game Recap
Lopez had his old-man game going a bit in the first with multiple drives inside, also mixing in a three as the Bucks got up double-digits early. Chicago missed 11 threes in a row while the Bucks hit half of their 12 attempts, building a 16-point lead as the first drew to a close. The visitors were up 33-17 after one, as Lopez paced all scorers with nine.
The Bulls drew slightly closer in the opening minutes of the second as their cold streak from downtown snapped. Up 10, Middleton then went to work, scoring from all three levels with 10 straight points, helping Milwaukee run things up to 21 at the midpoint of the quarter. They were briefly ahead by 23 thanks to even hotter shooting, but the Bulls started manufacturing buckets and free throws inside to get back within 14. That’s where it stood entering half: 59-45 Bucks.
Early in the third, Milwaukee reestablished themselves somewhat, gaining an 18-point edge behind Middleton and Bobby Portis. But Chicago managed to cut it to eight at the 4:24 mark after they finally strung together a couple of makes from deep. Consecutive Gary Trent Jr. triples just over a minute later helped the Bucks wrestle back control, part of an 11-0 run. Trent sank another soon after, powering his team to a 92-72 advantage with three complete.
Milwaukee extended that run to 20-4 over the quarter break, finding themselves up a cool 24 in the opening stages of the fourth. The Bucks didn’t allow the game to get closer than 17 as the minutes ticked away as Middleton and Lopez broke the 20-point barrier. With just over four minutes left and the Bucks up 107-85, Bulls coach Billy Donovan went to his bench. Doc Rivers soon followed suit as the deep reserves took it to the final buzzer.
Stat That Stood Out
We often talk about how it’s a make-or-miss league, and there’s really no better way to identify why the Bucks won tonight. After outshooting Chicago (6/28) from downtown by 24% with an 11/24 first-half effort, Milwaukee finished the game 18/43 (45.8%) while their opponent sank a few more percentage points to 10/48 (20.8%).
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