Even without Antetokounmpo, Bulls still no match for Bucks
It was like going to a Paul McCartney concert and having the pop music icon blissfully sit stage left and not sing a note or touch an instrument.
Giannis Antetokounmpo - Milwaukee's amazing young megastar - came, sat and simply let it be as his Bucks teased and then picked apart the Bulls, 117-106 Monday night at the United Center.
Officially, Antetokounmpo was out with "soreness in his right knee." Unofficially, the 24-year-old global wizard was taking a night off in plain view of 20,936 as Milwaukee - an Eastern Conference-best 46-14 - began a run of eight road games in its next ten.
The stretch could very well determine whether the Bucks will maintain homecourt advantage all the way through the NBA Finals.
"I'd really rather not speak tonight," Antetokounmpo, in stylish street clothes throughout, politely told one inquiring reporter after the game.
There really was no need to. With all-star mate Khris Middleton scoring 12 of his 22 points during a game-flipping second quarter, the Bucks spotted the Bulls (16-45) an early 36-22 lead, turned that into a 63-54 halftime edge and coasted to their fifth straight win.
"It would not surprise me at all to see that team win an NBA championship," Bulls coach Jim Boylen said. "They have so many of the things that it takes."
With Antetokounmpo lounging, Milwaukee used its growlingly notorious tactic of making an opponent think they're into something good and then blasting them away.
"Tonight, I think the defense really turned it around," said Bucks boss Mike Budenholzer, whose team won its fifth straight. "A lot of good defense, I would say. Obviously, a really big second quarter and then a decent third and fourth."
The second period was the game. With Lauri Markkanen scoring 14 of his 26 in the first quarter - and Zach LaVine adding 10 of his 11 and Robin Lopez 8 of his 26 - the Bulls looked like a conference contender at the start.
All went south - or north for Milwaukee - with 10:26 left in the first half. With the Bulls still ahead, 40-29, Malcolm Brogdon and Ersan Ilyasova keyed a two-ended Bucks burst that put them on top, 41-40.
Two minutes later, Middleton re-entered the game and scored his nasty dozen in the final 4:07 to send the Bucks off up by 9.
Adding a little sting to the wounding for the home team was the play of Nikola Mirotic, who had a triple and two assists during Milwaukee's Bull-breaking 17-9 first-half close.
Said Brogdon, who matched Middleton's 22: "Defensively, we just got stops. (The Bulls) were scoring at a high rate an then we just started playing harder."
The Bulls also started playing dumber, according to Boylen, who said, "We just weren't smart enough in the second half."
Markkanen, Lopez and first-time starter Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (12 points, 7 rebounds), were the only Bulls who appeared to play gate-to-wire. LaVine positively disappeared after his opening flurry and Milwaukee's bench outscored its Chicago counters, 42-24.
"I guess this is all part of a team's growth," said Boylen, who saw his Bulls' three-game win streak - their longest of a long season - end.