Milwaukee, March 23 (BUS): Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 25 points and 17 rebounds in his return to the game and the Milwaukee Bucks extended their hold over the Chicago Bulls by blasting 126-98 on Tuesday night.
Antetokonmo missed the Bucks’ 138-119 loss in Minnesota on Saturday due to inflammation in his right knee. Milwaukee played without All-Star striker Khris Middleton, who was tapping his left wrist, The Associated Press reported.
“He had a fall in the Minnesota game, and it was very painful and rough, so we looked at him,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game. “We feel it’s short-term, but we’ll see how he feels in the next day or two.”
Jrue Holiday scored a game-high 27 points to match seven assists as the Bucks won for the 15th time in their last 16 games for the Bulls, including all three games this season. The Bulls’ only win during that period came at the 2019-20 regular season finale, when the Bucks rested their starts because they were locked in the No. 3 East seed.
Brooke Lopez scored 10 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes for Milwaukee after making his first start since the start of the season. The seven-footed player has come off the bench in the Bucks’ last three games after missing 67 with a back injury that required surgery.
Nikola Vucevic scored 22 points for the Bulls, who opened a five-game one-night trip after a 113-99 win over the Toronto Raptors. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine added 21 points each.
Milwaukee took the lead with a 23-4 spurt that started late in the first quarter and continued into the second period. The match was tied 20 times before the Bucks scored the last 13 points in the opening period.
Milwaukee extended the lead to 59-33 before the Bulls fell back by scoring 13 consecutive points. This included a personal 10-0 defeat by Lavigne, who capped off with a 3-pointer hit to open the second half.
Chicago cut the difference to 64-54 in a pair of free throws by Lavigne with 8:51 left in the third set, but the Bucks regrouped and ran away again. They eventually drove up to 35.
late time
Milwaukee’s Serge Ibaka and Chicago’s Tristan Thompson both received technical fouls late in the fourth quarter after they got into a brief struggle while attempting an inside pass.
Hint
The Bulls: Patrick Williams stayed on minutes in his second game after losing 65 with a ligament tear in his left wrist. He played 18 minutes in each of the last two games. “He’s going to need a series of matches until he wakes up where we can raise the minutes,” coach Billy Donovan said before the match.
Bucks: George Hill was fined $15,000 after being ejected from Saturday’s loss for pushing Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley from behind. Beverly, who pushed Ibaka from behind earlier in the altercation, was fined $20,000. …
Bulls fans made up a significant minority of the audience, so Grayson Allen earned a mix of boos and boos whenever he was introduced. It was the Bulls’ first game in Milwaukee since January 21, when Allen was sent off for a blatant foul on Alex Caruso that caused the Bulls goalkeeper to miss 22 games with a fracture of his right wrist. The two teams faced each other in Chicago on March 4.
next one
Bulls: In New Orleans on Thursday. The Bulls beat the Pelicans 128-112 in Chicago on October 22.
Bucks: Host the Washington Wizards on Thursday. The Bucks split two previous meetings with the Wizards. The Bucks lost 101-94 in Washington on November 7 and won 112-98 in Milwaukee on February 1.