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Bucks blow out Bulls, LaVine leaves with injury

MILWAUKEE - In their preseason opener, the Bulls' offense clicked and they looked like a competent team.

In Game 2 at the new Fiserv Forum on Wednesday, the shots weren't falling and the Bulls were embarrassingly bad in a 116-82 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The box score told an ugly tale. Jabari Parker hit 1 of 12 shots from the field, Justin Holiday went 2-for-10, Zach LaVine 3-for-10 and rookie Chandler Hutchison 1-for-9.

"I played like doo-doo," Parker said. "But it's fine. We've got to get back, there's another couple games I've just to go to make up for it and learn from it."

To make matters even worse, LaVine limped off the court early in the third quarter with what was later termed a right-thigh contusion. He appeared to bump knees with a defender on a drive to the basket.

In the locker room, though, LaVine said the injury was no big deal and predicted he'll be fine.

"Nah, I'm all good. Just a knee to quad, like a little quad contusion," he said. "When I drove, he just hit me right above the knee cap, like a Charley horse.

"But I'm OK. I could have went back in the game but they said there's no need to. I'm a little tight now, but I'll be all right."

The Bulls hung around in the first quarter, trailing 32-25, but the game got out of hand quickly. Milwaukee moved the ball well and usually had the Bulls' defense scrambling.

Coach Fred Hoiberg called a few timeouts trying to stop the onslaught, but it didn't work. By the end of the third quarter the Bulls trailed 90-57.

"I was upset with everything," Hoiberg said. "We weren't getting back. We let our lack of shotmaking effect our overall games, as far as edge, effort. Transition defensively was not good and we weren't getting matched up coming back. Then offensively, we were settling for way too many bad contested shots."

There were a few Bulls who didn't look that bad. Bobby Portis led the team with 17 points, while Kris Dunn added 10.

Rookie Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds, while hitting a couple of long-range shots. Antonio Blakeney posted 8 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in 22 minutes.

But this game helped demonstrate they have a long way to go against an experienced team that is playing well.

New Orleans' defensive effort was not very strong when the Bulls piled up 128 points on Sunday.

"It's been pretty easy for us putting that ball in the hoop and tonight it wasn't going down for us, obviously," Hoiberg said.

"We were struggling to score from all areas. Physically, we lost our edge."

"By the second quarter, we looked like a tired team," LaVine said. "They looked good, looked like they had their legs and everything. They looked like us our first game. It's good adversity for us when that hits. I'm glad its preseason obviously."

The Bulls haven't had a day off since training camp began and Hoiberg plans to practice on Thursday.

This was a homecoming, obviously, for Parker, who spent his first four seasons in Milwaukee. He came out with some energy, got an early basket and steal, but it didn't last.

"I felt like I couldn't get nothing to the basket," Parker said. "But hey, it happens. I haven't had one of them days in a long time and I was due for one.

"They did a great job of moving the ball, a really good job. That was kind of a first. So since we ran into it, it's a good time that we get a chance to fix it.

Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls

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