GAME NIGHT FROM THE UNITED CENTER:
Milwaukee (37-34, 15-19 on the road) at Bulls (24-47, 15-21 on the road)
TV: NBC Sports Chicago: Neil Funk and Stacey King - 7PM CT tipoff.
RADIO: 670 The Score: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington and Steve Kashul - 6:45PM CT pregame.
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine - 16 ppg, Bucks: Antetokounmpo - 27 ppg
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Markkanen - 7, Bucks: Antetokounmpo - 10
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Dunn - 6, Bucks: Bledsoe - 4
SEASON SERIES: Bulls 2-1
LAST MEETING: January 28, 2018 in Chicago. Bucks 110 Bulls 96.
CCI 24 SECONDS COMMENTARY: The Bulls need to send a message to Milwaukee in the first quarter. Play with an edge and when the storm comes, weather it. The Nuggets were a desperate team and played with a ton of confidence and kept pouring it on. The young Bulls need to understand that you must compete at a full 48 minutes. Stay the course with hard work, covering assignments, talking on defense, etc.
The Bulls may get Lauri Markkanen on the floor tonight after missing five games with back spasms. Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn remain out. Antonio Blakeney's season is over. He suffered a fractured wrist in the Knicks game Monday night. He scored over a thousand points for the Windy City Bulls and in his brief time with the Bulls, showcased his scoring abilities.
Milwaukee's future MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is doubtful after spraining an ankle Wednesday against the Clippers. I enjoy watching Giannis play. Not only is he a gifted player but he LOVES the game.
The Bucks have hit a bump in the road and enter the game as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They should be higher in the standings but they've gone through a lot this season with the dismissal of Jason Kidd, injuries, etc.
NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Houston 100 Detroit 96. James Harden scored 10 of the Rockets 12 overtime points. Blake Griffin had a 23-10-10 game. The Rockets improved to 58-14 to tie them with the 93-94 NBA title team for most wins in franchise history.
Charlotte 140 Memphis 79. Hide the women and children, please! Kemba Walker scored 46 points in three quarters, ripping the nets for a franchise record 10 threes.
Philadelphia 118 Orlando 98. 5 straight wins for the 76ers.
NOLA 128 Lakers 125. Davis, Rondo and Holiday combined for 83 points. Lonzo Ball went 1-12 from 3 point range.
Dallas shot 49% from the field, 53% from three point range, 79% from the foul line and lost. Utah 119 Mavs 112. Dallas joins the 50 loss club. Mitchell and Rubio scored a combined 48 points for the Jazz.
Sacramento 105 Atlanta 90. (Associated Press)...
The game was delayed 15 minutes by a large group of protesters who were locked arm in arm outside the entrance of the Kings' arena protesting the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man who was in the backyard of his grandparents house Sunday night. According to reports the victim was shot 20 times.
After the game, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive addressed the small crowd from center court while surrounded by Sacramento's players and coaches and expressed his sympathies toward the Clark family.
"We are so very sorry for your loss," Ranadive said. "We at the Kings recognize people's abilities to protest peacefully and we respect that. We here at the Kings realize that we have a big platform. It's a privilege but it's also a responsibility. It's a responsibility that we take very seriously and we stand here before you, old, young, black, white, brown, and we are all united in our commitment.
"We recognize that it is not just business as usual and we are going to work really hard to bring everybody together to make the world a better place, starting in our own community. We are going to work really hard to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again."
Thanks for reading CCI. Email me at cswirsky@bulls.com or Twitter: @ctsbulls