After two straight wins, Bulls have nothing left for Bucks
A common term in the NBA is the "schedule loss."
The Bulls met the criteria Friday, playing the second leg of back-to-back games against a rested Milwaukee team at Fiserv Forum.
The Bulls have trouble beating the Bucks under ideal conditions, so this one went about as well as expected. Milwaukee rolled 126-96, recording its 11th straight win over the Bulls. The Bucks knocked down 22 of 45 attempts from 3-point range, while Giannis Antetokounmpo piled up 29 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists.
For the second straight day, the Bulls were missing Chandler Hutchison, Lauri Markkanen, Tomas Satoransky and Ryan Arcidiacono due to health and safety protocols.
Before the game, coach Billy Donovan confirmed Hutchison tested positive for COVID-19 and stayed in Washington. The other three are presumably quarantining due to contact tracing and returned home to Chicago.
This is the second time already this season Satoransky has been in the wrong place at wrong time. During preseason, he was out for 10 days after Noah Vonleh tested positive for the coronavirus. Vonleh is no longer on the roster.
Donovan also mentioned that four assistant coaches missed the game against Indiana last week due to safety protocols, but the coaching staff was all present in Milwaukee.
"The hard part is like when you get together as a team, it's not like, 'OK, we're meeting at 10 o'clock, it's five to 10, we'll go downstairs,'" Donovan said. "No, you got to go and get tested, and then you have to sit around and wait for your results to get back, and then you can meet. So those are the things that are more inconveniences and the daily challenges."
There wasn't much worth mentioning about the actual game. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 16 points, their assist total dropped from 34 in Thursday's win over Washington to 18 on Friday. All 14 players in uniform saw action, which meant season debuts for Luke Kornet, Cristiano Felicio and Devon Dotson.
"I feel like we got away from out identity tonight," guard Coby White said. "We came out kind of flat. Our identity's moving the ball, making that extra pass."
This game provided the first chance for Bulls rookie Patrick Williams to guard Gianis Antetokounmpo. It's a matchup the Bulls are hoping will be successful in the long run, but it wasn't on Friday.
The good news is, Williams had a good attitude about his first chance at getting run over by the Greek Freak, the league's two-time MVP.
"I want to be a guy that guards the best players night in and night out," Williams said. "I think tonight it was definitely a step forward for me, just getting more comfortable guarding guys like that. It's not easy at all, but you've got to find a way to do it. Today was a learning experience for sure.
"Film definitely helps, but there's nothing like actually being out there with him, just taking those blows from him. My chest is on fire right now just from the shoulders he gave me."
Williams thought in addition to trying to stop Giannis, he could also take some things from his game, like how to power his way to the basket.
"The next time we play them, I hope to guard him again and do better," Williams said. "Being able to guard somebody like that my sixth game of the season means a lot. It shows the trust (Donovan) has in me and the trust I have to have in myself. It was tough, to say the least. If we want to win games, we've got to be able to deal with guys like that.
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