Bulls Can’t Keep Up With Giannis, Bucks
The Bulls wish they had a star as game-changing as Giannis Antetokounmpo. Since they don’t, they could only try and beat him and the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday at the United Center. They were unsuccessful in a 112–99 loss. That dropped their home losing streak to a franchise-high 11.
The Bulls led for the majority of the first quarter and stayed close throughout the second, trailing by only one at halftime. The final 24 minutes proved where each team is in terms of talent and the standings. Naturally, the Bucks came away with the win thanks to timely offense and superior defense. Had Kris Dunn not a) become hampered after falling on his tailbone or b) shot 1 for 9 from the field, it might have been a different story, but we’ve learned better than to expect anything big from him.
By the way, check out the responses from our most popular tweet of the night. People couldn’t wait to jump all over Dunn.
https://twitter.com/BullsConf/status/1095133486854402048
Antetokounmpo (and yes, I’m copying and pasting each instance of his name) did his thing with 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting, 17 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks. Despite frustrating the home crowd, he did get in everyone’s good graces when he had an empty trip to the free-throw line that gave them free Portillo’s. Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon combined for 36 points and five field goals (three 3-pointers) each and a perfect 10 for 10 on free throws. Antetokounmpo’s fellow All-Star, Khris Middleton, scored 16, and Ersan Ilyasova added 12 off the bench.
Zach LaVine carried the Bulls with a versatile, fearless and unselfish offensive game, resulting in 27 points (4 of 6 from behind the 3-point line, 5 of 5 on free throws) and seven assists, both team highs. Lauri Markkanen did his part with 20 points (7 of 7 from the free-throw line), 17 rebounds and a pair of steals. Otto Porter Jr. once again proved he’s worth of stabilizing the small forward position by scoring 18 and pulling down seven boards. Robin Lopez also kept the Bulls in the game for as long as possible with 17 points.
The Bulls were ready for this game, but couldn’t keep up. Though a team as bad as them can fake things for a little while, say for the first half, its weaknesses eventually tend to show up more often than not. Still, it was impressive that this stayed a game for as long as it did. If all you want to do is dream of Zion Williamson in a Bulls uniform, this was a perfect game: stay close thanks to your core players and still lose.
The Bulls have one more game before the All-Star break: Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Though the Grizzlies are having a disappointing season of their own, and trading Marc Gasol has been part of it, don’t expect them to be a factor in the Tankathon standings. They would have to go on a Knicks-like skid to make it happen. So don’t expect a potential Bulls win to do much as far as legitimately adding a member to the race to the bottom.
