Bucks pull out 105-102 win over Bulls in Adrian Griffin's coaching debut

The Milwaukee Bucks opened the 2023-24 preseason on Sunday afternoon at Fiserv Forum, beating the Chicago Bulls, 105-102

A pair of rim-rocking dunks from rookie Andre Jackson Jr. and Thanasis Antetokounmpo early in the fourth quarter gave the Bucks a 90-84 lead with eight minutes to go and MarJon Beauchamp hit four late free throws to clinch the victory.

Beauchamp also had a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds in 28 minutes for Milwaukee while Antetokounmpo had 14 points in 21 minutes. Andre Jackson Jr. had four points, four rebounds and three assists. Coby White led Chicago with 14 points.

"It was a physical game," new Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin said. "Chicago has always been a team that plays extremely hard and extremely physical. I think we had 19 turnovers. But I think MarJon – we talk about in timeouts playing through contact – and I thought he was great at the end of game. He stepped up and made his free throws."

The Bucks will not be back home until the exhibition finale against Memphis on Oct. 20, as they head out on a three-game, 8-day road trip to Memphis, Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.

Bucks’ Big Three held out

Even though Giannis Antetokounmpo went through his usual pregame warmup routine, the two-time MVP was held out of the game along with Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton. Middleton was just cleared to practice in full Saturday and went live for the first time.

Antetokounmpo spoke about camp for the first time on Saturday and was energized by the new, aggressive mindset Griffin is preaching.

"I love it so far, I'm not even gonna lie," he said. "I feel like our physicality is on another level. Guys are extremely competitive. Every game we play is a competitive game from start to finish."

As for Lillard, the seven-time all-star said earlier in the week that his conditioning was not where it normally is at this juncture, as he didn't get his usual court work in while awaiting a trade out of Portland.

"There's usually team activities, conditioning as a team, pickup games, getting up and down," Lillard said earlier in the week. "Obviously, I was doing a lot of training, like my body's conditioned, but the up-and-down part is going to take some time to get in full shape. If it was up to me – I mean, that's probably been one of my biggest issues in my whole career is I just keep going. So I'm trying a different thing this year and trying to just listen.

"That's one thing that I always say that I would tell my younger self is just to be a better listener because people that are giving you direction have experienced it or they know something that you don't know. And usually you think you know more than you know. So, this year, I'm just focusing on being a listener and following instructions and hopefully it will do me some good."

Lillard has been participating in practices, however.

"Just taking it day by day, not rushing anything," Griffin said of Lillard. "He's been great. Looks great in our practices, great in our workouts, just being smart."

Backup point guard Cam Payne was held back, also. The veteran was signed on Oct. 1, and has been practicing with the team all week.

Adrian Griffin makes head coaching debut

After a 15-year assistant coaching career that began in Milwaukee, Griffin made his head coaching debut against a team he once played and coached for – and a head coach in Billy Donovan that he once worked for.

Although Griffin had gotten some head coaching experience in Toronto when then-Raptors head coach Nick Nurse missed games – and some more in the Bucks’ summer league – this was his first experience with some starters and rotational players for his new team.

The game was largely free flowing, but Griffin did call time out with 34.4 seconds left in regulation – and eight seconds left on the shot clock – to settle his team with the game tied at 99. The play was drawn up for Beauchamp, who got to the rim but couldn't finish. Marques Bolden had an offensive rebound stripped, but rookie Drew Timme was behind him and picked it up and laid it in for a 101-99 Bucks lead with 29.1 seconds left.

"They did great execution-wise," Griffin said of the play. "Just trying to be aware of the timeouts I have, make sure I don't burn them prematurely because I saw the game was kind of going down to the wire. I thought MarJon really kept his composure."

Bulls all-stars have up-and-down half

Chicago started with their all-star trio of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević and they combined for 20 first half points.

Donovan said he wanted his starters to play first half minutes through two rotations, and in their game-opening nine-minute stretch the Bulls took a 24-14 lead. DeRozan scored seven points while LaVine and White combined for 10.

With their team up 39-27 with about eight minutes left in the first half the trio returned. But, they saw the momentum swing the other way in their second stint with the Bucks going on a 23-6 run to take a 50-45 lead.

Their day ended at the break, with Chicago up 51-50. DeRozan finished with seven points on 2-of-6 shooting while LaVine had nine. Vučević gave his team the lead with two late free throws and he finished with four points and four rebounds.

Green, Livingston out injured

Just before the game, the Bucks ruled out second year shooting guard AJ Green with a right calf strain and rookie forward Chris Livingston with a right ankle sprain. Green did not suit up, but Livingston participated in pregame warmups.

"They're progressing well," Griffin said. "Right now they're just getting their conditioning and hopefully soon we'll see them back."

More: Damian Lillard quickly settling into new home with Milwaukee Bucks

Five numbers

2 Technical fouls in the game, called on Bucks center Robin Lopez with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter for complaining to the officials and on Beauchamp with 2:35 to go in the fourth quarter for swinging on the rim after a dunk.

8 Points for Bulls guard Jevon Carter. Carter signed a 3-year, $20 million free agent deal with Chicago this offseason after two years in Milwaukee. Carter did not start but Donovan said the 28-year-old has a chance to win that job. Carter also pulled down nine rebounds in his 16 minutes of action.

9:51 Time of the first basket of the game, a LaVine layup. The teams combined for two turnovers and six missed shots in the opening minutes of the game.

19 Combined points for the Bucks’ starting front court of Brook Lopez (11) and Bobby Portis (8). The duo combined to go 8-for-13 from the field overall. Each played 12 minutes in the first half.

50 Percent shooting from behind the three-point line for Bucks starters Jae Crowder (2-for-4), Lopez (3-for-5) and Malik Beasley (3-for-7).

Plays of the game

Malik Beasley chased Zach LaVine around a screen and recovered in time to pick off a LaVine pass, leading to an uncontested fast-break layup going the other way with 6:34 to go in the first half. The 26-year-old Beasley was a free agent acquisition by the Bucks and said during media day that being more consistent on defense is a focus of his during training camp. Beasley then picked off a soft outlet pass from Andre Drummond deep in the Bulls’ backcourt for an easy lay in to put the Bucks up 60-57 in the third quarter.

"Spreading the floor and defending, that's the main thing," Beasley said of his preseason emphasis. "If I don't make shots, y'all can get me on later about that but right now I'm just focused on defending."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks pull out 105-102 win over Bulls in Adrian Griffin's debut