Bucks-Bulls Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Nov 25 2012 8:43PM

The Milwaukee Bucks haven't been able to beat the Chicago Bulls the past few seasons even with Brandon Jennings in the lineup for the majority of those contests.

Now, they may have to figure out how to do so without him.

Jennings' status is uncertain when visiting Milwaukee looks to avoid a 10th consecutive loss to Chicago and a fourth straight overall in the back end of a home-and-home set Monday night.

The Bucks (6-5) haven't beaten the Bulls since April 6, 2010, in Chicago, with Jennings playing in the last seven defeats. He scored a game-high 23 points and added seven assists in Saturday's 93-86 home loss to the Bulls, who outscored Milwaukee 12-5 over the final five minutes.

"It was kind of a grind-it-out game and when it really came time to grind it out, they did it to us," coach Scott Skiles said.

Jennings expressed similar feelings. The Bulls won the previous meeting 106-104 on a Derrick Rose jumper at the buzzer March 7 in Milwaukee.

"It seems to always come down to the last few possessions and we just can't get it done," Jennings said. "We have to turn that around on Monday."

Milwaukee may have to do so without Jennings, who said he rolled and sprained his left ankle. He didn't rule himself out but also didn't commit to playing.

"It's really sore," Jennings said. "It is the same one I had surgery on so I was nervous. But I think everything will be OK."

Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau anticipates a tough contest whether or not Jennings is able to play.

"When we play them, these games can go either way," Thibodeau said. "They're hard-fought and tough. We've been fortunate to come out this way, but they're really good."

The Bulls (6-6) snapped a three-game skid with Saturday's victory, getting a season-high 22 points from Richard Hamilton and 22 points and a season-best 19 rebounds from Carlos Boozer.

Crunch time usually doesn't involve either player, but the veterans relished their rare fourth-quarter minutes, as Hamilton and Boozer played about eight apiece.

"It was nice to be out there and help this team get a win," Hamilton said. "It was a lot of fun out there. It was a game we needed to win."

Boozer has been criticized often during his tenure in Chicago while mainly being relegated to the bench late in games. He scored six points in the fourth Saturday, equaling his total in that quarter from his previous five games combined.

"I just go with the flow," Boozer said. "It's (Thibodeau's) show. He runs it."

Boozer, who is shooting 59.3 percent during Chicago's winning streak versus the Bucks, had totaled 17 points and 18 rebounds while hitting 8 of 22 shots over his previous two games.

The Bulls outrebounded the Bucks 54-40, including 20-10 on the offensive boards.

"We hung in there and really did a good job in the fourth quarter of getting some stops," Boozer said. "We were hustling and that was the key to getting a lot of our second opportunities."

Chicago has won 12 of the last 13 meetings at the United Center.

Bucks rally from 27-point hole to stun Bulls 93-92

Posted Nov 26 2012 11:47PM

CHICAGO (AP) The Milwaukee Bucks had everything working against them late in the third quarter - a 27-point deficit, a nine-game skid against Chicago and a flurry of 3-pointers by the Bulls, the league's worst deep-shooting team.

So Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles cleared the bench and watched his reserves tear off a 31-4 run, leading the Bucks to a stunning 93-92 comeback win over the Bulls on Monday night that snapped a three-game losing streak.

Ersan Ilyasova scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half to lead the comeback, including 12 in the fourth quarter when Milwaukee outscored Chicago 30-12 to prevent the Bulls from taking over first place in the Central Division. The first-place Bucks lead the Bulls by 1 1/2 games.

"We got different guys in the game," Skiles said. "They played very well together, played with a lot of energy, played some good defense."

Milwaukee played the entire fourth quarter with the same five reserves: Ilyasova, Epke Udoh, Beno Udrih, Mike Dunleavy and Doron Lamb.

"It can happen fast," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You can lose 10 points in an NBA game in a minute. Everyone says that doesn't happen, but you see it all the time. If you don't play tough with a lead, this is what happens."

Richard Hamilton scored a season-high 30 points for the Bulls but missed a shot at the buzzer that would have won it.

John Henson, Udrih and Udoh all scored 11 points, while Monta Ellis added 10. Udoh added six rebounds and five of Milwaukee's 12 blocked shots.

"It's one of those games where we just played well defensively," Ilysova said. "We didn't let them score, and we just got opportunities and made some tough shots. We closed 27 points - in an NBA game that's not easy."

The Bucks hadn't beaten Chicago since April 6, 2010.

"We played terrible," Bulls forward Luol Deng said. "I gotta look at it again, but we're not playing like how we need to play. We're not playing like how we used to play."

Hamilton was coming off a then-season-high 22 points in Chicago's 93-86 win at Milwaukee on Saturday. Kirk Hinrich added a season-best 17 points and six assists.

Chicago had one final chance after Dunleavy turned the ball over on an inbound pass under the Milwaukee basket with 7.5 seconds left. Udoh knocked the ball out of bounds reaching for Dunleavy's pass, and Chicago called a timeout.

"We just wanted to fight back and make it a great game," Lamb said. "We did that and came all the way back and got a lead. We told ourselves we could win the game."

Hamilton took an inbound pass and worked his way to the foul line, but missed a fadeaway over Lamb as time expired, the ball bouncing off the side of the rim.

Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago. Deng added 10 points and eight boards.

"It's tough, man," Boozer said. "I wish we could go back out there and finish it differently."

The game was reminiscent of the biggest lead the Bulls ever blew at home, a 35-point advantage in a home loss to the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 21, 2009.

Hamilton and Boozer combined for 17 points in the third quarter as Chicago seemingly blew the game open.

The Bulls outscored Milwaukee 28-13 in the third and opened the 27-point lead on Hinrich's 3-pointer with 2:50 to go in the quarter. That gave Hinrich his season high for points, just the third time he's reached double digits this season.

Just before Hinrich's 3, Chicago's third 3-pointer in less than 2 minutes, Skiles inserted Ilyasova, Lamb and Udrih into the game, the last time he substituted.

"No, I never thought of putting the starters back in," Skiles said. "There was a noticeable uptick in our pressure and we weren't giving up offensive rebounds, and we got off on the break with that group that was in there."

Hamilton scored eight of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter as Chicago took a 48-40 lead at halftime.

Milwaukee hit just 20 percent from 3-point range (3 of 15). The Bucks entered the game shooting 16 percent from beyond the arc over their last three games (10 of 62).

That didn't matter behind a group of reserves who outscored their Chicago counterparts 56-10.

"We were very loose with the lead at the end of the third quarter," Thibodeau said. "That game changed in about 4-5 minutes, at the end of the third quarter and to the fourth. We couldn't stop it.

"You've got to play 48 minutes in this league, and we've still got a long ways to go in that area."

NOTES: Henson got his first NBA start for the Bucks, starting in place of Ilyasova. He led Milwaukee with 11 first-half points, but didn't score in the second half. ... Brandon Jennings started despite spraining his left ankle toward the end of Saturday's game against Chicago. He scored six points. Jennings, who is leading the league in steals, failed to record one in a game for the first time this season. ... The Bucks shot 45.9 percent from the field and have shot 50 percent or better just once in their last 34 games against the Bulls, dating to March 26, 2004. The Bulls have won 24 of those games.

Notebook: Bucks 93, Bulls 92

Kent McDill, For NBA.com
Posted Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:21 PM - Updated Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:15 AM

THE FACTS: The Milwaukee Bucks put an end to a nine-game losing streak against the Chicago Bulls in remarkable fashion, erasing a 27-point third quarter deficit to pull out a 93-92 victory Monday night at the United Center. The Bulls led 78-51 with 2:50 left in the third quarter, but scored just 14 points in the game's final 15 minutes. Ersan Ilyasova, removed from the starting lineup for rookie John Henson in the game, led all Bucks (7-5) with a season-high 18 points off the bench. Rip Hamilton led the Bulls with 30 points, his season high.

The Bulls (6-7) led 50-40 at halftime, then hit five 3-pointers in the third quarter to send the lead to 27 points. The Bulls made 5 of their last 22 shots from that point to the end of the game.

QUOTABLE: "You just walk the game down to 18, to 16, to 12, to eight -- which is what we did."

-- Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles

THE STAT: Skiles put Henson in the starting lineup, and returned Samuel Dalembert to the starting five after an unofficial one-game benching. But it was the Bucks bench that provided 56 points to just 10 for the Bulls' second strings. Besides Ilyasova, Ekpe Odoh and Beno Udrih each scored 11 points.

TURNING POINT: Down 80-57 with 1:30 left in the third quarter, the Bucks scored the last six points of the period, including a buzzer-beater by Udoh to cut the Bulls lead to 17 points. Milwaukee then scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter, completing a 19-0 run.

REMEMBER WHEN: For Bulls fans, the game brought back memories of the worst loss of the Vinny Del Negro coaching era, when his Bulls let the Sacramento Kings come back from 35 points down to record a 102-98 victory Dec. 21, 2009. Del Negro was roundly criticized for that loss.

INJURY UPDATE: After spraining his ankle at the end of Saturday's game in Milwaukee, Bucks starting guard Brandon Jennings played 26 minutes Monday and scored six points on 2-for-9 shooting.

HOT: Through three quarters, Hamilton was 10-for-16 from the field. He went 2-for-8 in the fourth quarter, however.

QUOTABLE II: "The key thing is 48 minutes. If you don't play hard with the lead, this is what happens."

-- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau

GOOD MOVE: Skiles said before the game that moving Ilyasova out of the starting lineup might spark him. It worked, as Ilyasova went 8-for-14 from the field and got six rebounds.

QUOTABLE III: "They scored more than us.''

-- Bulls forward Luol Deng

INSIDE THE ARENA: On a cold Monday night when very little buzz could be felt in the United Center, famed Chicago sports fans Jenny McCarthy and Jim Belushi were in attendance.

ROOKIE WATCH: Henson scored 11 points in just under 15 minutes in his first career pro start for Milwaukee.

NOTABLE: The Bulls were called for a delay of game infraction for failing to get onto the court in a timely fashion for the opening tip. ... The last Milwaukee win over the Bulls was April 10, 2010. ... The Bucks had 10 blocked shots against the Bulls in the loss at Milwaukee Saturday night, and followed that with a 12-block game Monday. Udoh had five blocks. ... Bulls forward Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double in the last six games.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Wednesday vs. Mavericks, Saturday vs. Sixers, Tuesday vs. Pacers. For the Bucks, Wednesday vs. Knicks, Friday @ Timberwolves, Saturday vs. Celtics.

• Bucks: Gooden, Mbah a Moute
• Bulls: Rose

• Bucks: --
• Bulls: Noah

• Lead Changes: 8
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: United Center, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #43 Dan Crawford, #7 Kevin Fehr, #16 David Guthrie
• Attendance: 21485
• Duration: 2:09