With Giannis Antetokounmpo out for the fourth straight game due to illness, Damian Lillard returned to the Milwaukee Bucks, but poor shooting plagued them as they lost 115-111 to a Chicago Bulls team they had beaten just five days earlier without Queen had beaten. Still, Lillard posted a game-high 29 points as each team had three players with more than 20 points. Josh Giddey and Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 23 points each.

NBA.com Box Score

Game review

Although the Bucks shot three-pointers decently in the opening minutes, they struggled to convert looks inside as the Bulls took a 13-point lead. In fact, they shot a paltry 4/14 with their twos and missed all looks in the central restricted area, which struggled to finish despite decent central defense from Chicago. Meanwhile, the Bulls were within 12 feet at 9/9 for a 20-2 lead and led 33-25 after one period.

Milwaukee got within two shortly after an early Chicago timeout, but that was as close as ever in the opening minutes of the second. Defensive errors allowed the Bulls to hit two open threes, and Doc Rivers reset the defense with a timeout at 5:26. When the starting lineup found itself trailing by 13 points again, it regrouped and cut the deficit to three points after a four-point game from Khris Middleton, part of an 11-2 run. The foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul due to Lonzo Ball’s closeout as Middleton went down hard and cautiously walked to the bench, appearing to point to his left ankle. He initially stayed in the game, but sat out in the final minute, and the Bucks trailed 62-60 heading to the locker room.

Middleton was back on the floor at the start of the third round but started 0/3. Milwaukee finally secured its first lead with a 9-0 run, which was crowned by a three-pointer from Bobby Portis shortly after the middle of the quarter. It was short-lived as a quick 7-2 run by the Bulls got them to a basket and sent the Bucks scrambling with three and a half minutes left in the game. A lineup heavily populated with reserves held serve in the final minutes and the Bucks defended their lead at the start of the final period with 84:83.

While Brook Lopez came back into the game at halftime, Doc gave Middleton and Lillard a few more minutes of rest. Unfortunately, Chicago took a seven-point lead with a 10-2 run early in the fourth period. With just over ten minutes left, Lillard checked back first and soon it was Dame Time. A personal 11-0 run brought the Bucks back to within four points with 7:16 left. After playing 22 minutes, Middleton was reinstated with just over five minutes remaining after sitting over 12 minutes. However, the Bulls equalized again, so it was back and forth for the next few minutes. With 1:11 left, a Giddey corner three gave Chicago a one-point lead, and a Middleton turnover 17 seconds later led to a Patrick Williams fastbreak, making it 111-108 with 50.6 on the game clock. After the timeout, Lopez hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, but Coby White sank a 17-footer with 31.1 minutes left to put the score ahead by two points. Middleton’s baseline pullup hit the rim with 12 seconds left and Milwaukee was forced to foul with 10 seconds left, to no avail.

Statistics that stood out

Unlike some of the Bucks’ other recent losses, this one didn’t slip away from the sidelines as they weren’t too far underwater in terms of fast break points and even had second chance opportunities. But despite seven more attempts from the field, Milwaukee managed four fewer shots and only shot 25% from three in the fourth period. Although Chicago shot just 0.2% better from the field in the frame, this was the second game in a row in which Milwaukee failed to score enough points after halftime. After scoring 46 points on Thursday, the Bucks had just 51 points tonight.

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