FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER: Milwaukee 108, Bulls 98. (Bulls: 26-37, 12-19 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: White: 21pts. Bucks: Lopez and Middleton each with 22pts LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Vucevic: 15. Bucks: Portis: 14 LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: White: 7 Bucks: Holiday: 7.
CCI STAT OF THE GAME: Milwaukee has now won 12 straight games against the Bulls ,9 straight at the United Center.
CCI RECAP: The Bucks playing their fourth straight road game and second in as many nights had just enough in the tank to hold off the Bulls to pick up a full game on Eastern Conference leader Brooklyn. The Bulls struggled shooting the ball making only 38% of their shots, 30% from three point range and 66% from the foul line. Both Nikola Vucevic and Daniel Theis posted double-double games but "Vooch" struggled going 7-27 from the floor and 1-9 from three point range. The Bulls played without Zach Lavine , Lauri Markkanen and Troy Brown. Milwaukee was without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Donte Divincenzo. The Bulls trail 10th seed Washington by three full games with nine to play. The Bulls play at Atlanta tonight. The Hawks were blown out last night in Philadelphia. Atlanta has lost three straight and trail fourth seed New York by a game and one half. The Hawks and Celtics have identical 34-30 records and are tied for the fifth seed. Miami is just one-half game behind .
CCI NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Washington 122, Cleveland 93. The Wizards outscored the Cavs 64-41 in the second half. Russell Westbrook recorded his 31st triple double of the season (15-12-11).
Boston 143, San Antonio 140 OT. Jayson Tatum set a career high and tied a Celtics franchise single game scoring mark pouring in 60 points. The Spurs blew a 32 point first half lead. The Celtics scored 95 points in the second half and overtime.
Portland 128, Brooklyn 109. Damian Lillard with an impressive 32-7-9. The loss snapped Brooklyn's four game win streak.
Philadelphia 126, Atlanta 104. Philly's Dwight Howard turned back the clock with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Phoenix 121, Utah 100. The Suns pulled into a tie for the best record in the NBA identical matching Utah's 45-18 mark. The Suns' Devin Booker scored 31 points.
Sacramento 110, Los Angeles Lakers 106. LeBron James returned after missing a month with an ankle injury. He missed a potential game winner with seconds left. James played 32 minutes and finished with a 16-8-7 game. Rookie of the Year candidate Tyrese Halibutron scored 23 points and dished out 10 assists for the Kings.
Memphis 92, Orlando 75. The Magic listed seven players out with injuries.
Next week the United Center welcomes back fans
Thanks for reading CCI. Reach out: cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter @ctsbulls
All In. All Bulls. 365. 24-7. Always a pleasure. Go Bulls!