Rapid Recap: Bucks 110, Bulls 96

The Milwaukee Bucks finally took down the Chicago Bulls this season, winning 110-96 on a snowy Sunday afternoon. Milwaukee debuted their “City Edition” cream jerseys and while they looked pretty good, they did not look that great on Matthew Dellavedova’s pasty hued skin. Malcolm Brogdon missed his second straight game with right calf soreness, but once again his absence did not have a negative impact on the Bucks’ performance.

The Bucks turned the United Center rims to lava in the first half, converting on 62 percent of their three-point attempts, including three triples from Jason Terry. Milwaukee’s defense held Chicago to 41 percent shooting on the afternoon and built a lead that touched 23 points in the second half. Speaking of that lead, Milwaukee refused to let Chicago even sniff a second half comeback as they never let their lead slip into the single digits.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game high 27 points including this swirling finish early in the second half:

The All-Star got off to a slow start but had a fantastic go of things as the game progressed. He started 0/5 from the floor, but was able to finish this one out converting on 11 of his next 14 shots. In the first game of a back-to-back, Antetokounmpo tallied nearly 35 minutes of playing time. That number could have been lower considering the game’s margin, but this was just his second game in eight days, so I guess a little burn to shake off some rust is not a bad thing.

The Bucks’ back court bench mob was tickling the twine all afternoon as Dellavedova, Terry, and Chicago-native, Sterling Brown, combined to score 31 points and shoot 8/12 from three-point range. The trio’s contributions from deep were a big help in keeping Milwaukee’s lead comfortable all afternoon long.

Denzel Valentine was Chicago’s leading scorer, finishing with 18 points. He scored 16 of those points in the first half on a handful of mid-range shot-put looking heaves. Lauri Markkanen carded a double-double, scoring 17 points and collecting ten rebounds. The sharpshooting rookie went 2/4 from three and was never able to stretch the Milwaukee defense into open looks.

Stat That Stood Out

68 percent - that is the percentage of field goals the Bucks recorded an assist on. They started the game recording an assist on their first eight baskets. The ball was flying around the perimeter so much that it bordered on being a little too much. Milwaukee had no problem getting the open look from beyond the arc or finding the easy dish into the lane.