Bucks 118, Bulls 109: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Andre Jackson Jr. key victory
The Milwaukee Bucks ended a a two-game losing streak when they beat the Chicago Bulls 118-109 on Monday night at Fiserv Forum. The Bucks were in control for most of the first half but needed a strong third and fourth quarters to outlast the Bulls and improve to 6-4.
Chicago fell to 4-7.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 35 points and had 11 rebounds. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter on 5 of 8 shooting while making 4 of his 8 free throws.
“He was phenomenal the whole game and we needed him down the stretch and he kind of took things in his own hands,” Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin said. “We need someone to make the plays down the stretch. We got a little bit stagnant. We were kind of sanding and watching, and we just gotta to keep executing, but he was able to put his head down and get to the rim and get to the free throw line and that’s what you need down the stretch.”
Bobby Portis came off the bench to scored 19 points and pull down 10 rebounds. Khris Middleton (13), Damian Lillard (12) and Brook Lopez (11) also scored in double figures for Milwaukee.
Chicago was led by Nikola Vučević, who scored 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Zach LaVine added 20 while DeMar DeRozan was held to 11 points on 3 of 14 shooting.
Box score: Bucks 118, Bulls 109
Andre Jackson Jr. steps up in Jae Crowder’s absence
Monday night started on a high for Andre Jackson Jr., as Portis and Middleton presented him with his NCAA championship ring from the University of Connecticut from last season. Jackson then played a season high in minutes as Jae Crowder was ruled out for the next couple months due to a adductor and abdominal injuries.
Jackson made a huge impact on the game in ways that he often did at UConn, namely by playing stout defense and making hustle plays that led to points.
Late in the third quarter, after the Bulls had come back from a 17-point first-half deficit to take a 68-67 lead, Jackson secured two consecutive offensive rebounds that led to four Bucks points. He then hit a floater and set a hard baseline screen to free Pat Connaughton for an open three-pointer.
All the while, he was playing strong defense on Bulls all-stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
Suddenly, the Bucks had gone on a 11-0 run and reclaimed the lead, one they would not relinquish.
“I think I can make an impact without scoring the basketball,” Jackson said. “Just screening, being in the spot to create the space for the guys that need the ball. On this team, if I’m on the court, I’m most likely, probably, the fifth option in scoring, so I’m just going to try to do everything in my power to get those other guys clean looks and follow up their misses if they do miss and try to find another guy.”
As for his pregame ring ceremony, Jackson said that moment sunk in a bit more after the victory.
“It was weird,” he said. “I didn’t expect it. I was a little bit shocked. I didn’t really get to have the excitement that I would’ve wished. Right before the game I was super locked in to what we were about to do and I was like, yeah, forget about it, we’re going to do that this year. It’s good now to look back at it and appreciate it and kind of have those memories of all those times I had with teammates at UConn and reflect on those experiences and try to recreate that here. It was definitely a great experience.”
Damian Lillard returns for Bucks
The Bucks welcomed back Damian Lillard after the all-NBA point guard had missed the team's previous two losses with right calf soreness. Lillard had warmed up before games in Indiana and Orlando before being ruled out, and he was upgraded to probable before the game.
"He's made some really good progress over the last several days," Griffin said before the game. "So we'll keep an eye on his minutes. Obviously missing the last two games, just want to be cautious with him. But it's great having him back in the rotation."
Lillard said Monday he felt the calf tighten up right before halftime in the game against the Pistons on Nov. 8 and after that game – and during the trip to Indiana – it tightened further.
"Last season I had a couple calf strains, so just from that experience I didn't want it to linger," Lillard said. "I didn't want to put myself on sideline longer trying to play through something that I could feel already. So, we took a proactive approach."
But the close nature of the game saw Lillard having to play nearly his full workload, and though he was rusty in some areas he once again made key free throws down the stretch to help the Bucks to a victory.
"There was a couple stretches where we were getting a little stagnant and he was able to get to the free throw line, and that's huge," Griffin said. "Especially in the playoffs, in the fourth quarter, you've got to find some way to get high percentage shots and the free throw, obviously, is the highest percentage shot you can get."
In his 32 minutes, he scored 12 points but knocked down four free throws in the fourth quarter. He was 3-for-17 and just 1-for-9 from behind the three-point line. He also had five assists against five turnovers.
"I felt pretty good," Lillard said. "If I didn't feel good enough to play I wouldn't have played. But I think anytime you miss time, especially when you're already kind of behind (physically) to begin with, it's going to have some sort of effect. But given the circumstances I felt pretty good."
Did you notice?
Brook Lopez met Nikola Vučević at the rim at the 8-minute-43-second mark of the second quarter, resulting in a powerful block by the 7-foot-1-inch, 284-pound Lopez that sent the 6-10, 260-pound Bulls center to the ground. Lopez was then the victim of some bad luck, as Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan picked up the loose ball and went right back up, drawing a foul on Lopez.
But, the block was a spectacular moment of timing of decisive offensive move meeting a strong vertical defense by the two biggest players on the court.
5 numbers
17-3 Bucks’ record vs. the Bulls since 2018-19. The Bucks have won three straight over their rivals to the south.
5 The rank in Bucks scoring history for Khris Middleton, who passed Michael Redd for that spot with a fourth-quarter jumper.
30 Total unanswered points by the Bucks in the first half, thanks to runs of 9-0, 11-0 and 10-0 that helped them take a 59-49 lead into the break. Those stretches took up 7:15 of game time. In the other 16:45, the Bulls outscored the Bucks 49-29.
35 First-quarter points by the Bucks, a season high. They scored 30 against Philadelphia in the season opener on Oct. 26.
500 Career three-pointers Antetokounmpo has made. He is the seventh Bucks player to reach the milestone and trails Ersan İlyasova (536) for No. 6 all time. Antetokounmpo knocked down a fallaway, buzzer-beating triple as time expired in the first quarter. It was the first three-pointer he had made since Nov. 6 (0-for-4 in previous three games).
Bucks injury updates on Jae Crowder, Chris Livingston
Jae Crowder, out (left groin strain)The team announced the Marquette University alumnus will undergo surgery on left adductor and abdominal tears and miss about eight weeks.
Chris Livingston, out (left ankle sprain)The rookie entered the game against Orlando on Saturday for about four minutes. He was noticeably limping as he left the arena.Griffin: He's getting daily treatment and rehab. Hopefully that's (a) short-term injury.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks 118, Bulls 109: Giannis and Andre Jackson Jr. key victory
