The Sports Xchange
Dec 26, 2017
MILWAUKEE -- Nikola Mirotic scored 24 points off the bench, and Kris Dunn finished with 20 as the Chicago Bulls snapped a two-game losing streak with a 115-106 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night at the Bradley Center.
Dunn bounced back from a 1-for-12 showing his last time out against the Boston Celtics. He hit 9 of 17 shots Tuesday and added 12 assists.
The Bulls (11-22) shot 43.7 percent from the floor and made 10 3-pointers.
Milwaukee (17-15) got 28 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo and 22 from Eric Bledsoe. The Bucks hit 47 percent of their field-goal attempts, adding 10 3-pointers, but they committed a season-high 20 turnovers that the Bulls turned into 24 points.
Chicago closed out the second quarter on an 8-0 run and went into halftime with a 56-53 lead.
Antetokounmpo scored 18 on 7-of-10 shooting in the opening half, but Milwaukee went 3-for-13 from beyond the arc and gave up 14 points on 10 turnovers.
Bledsoe began the second half with a short leash after picking up four fouls in the first half. He hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 12 points in the third as the Bucks knocked down 10 of 18 shots, including four from distance, to knot things up at 83 heading into the fourth.
Milwaukee cut the deficit to five, but Dunn drove past Antetokounmpo for a layup to make it a 111-104 game with 53.8 seconds left. Chicago closed it out from the free-throw line, hitting 6 of 6 attempts down the stretch.
NOTES: Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the lineup Monday after sitting out the previous game because of right knee soreness. Coach Jason Kidd said before the game that Antetokounmpo, the league leader at 38 minutes per game entering play Tuesday, had no limit on his minutes Tuesday. Antetokounmpo wound up at 37 minutes against Chicago. ... Bulls G Zach LaVine worked out with Windy City of the G League on Tuesday. He will practice with the Bulls later this week and will begin six consecutive days of full-contact work Saturday as he continues to work his way back from ACL surgery. "He's got a lot of hurdles to clear yet," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "It's going to be good to get him back with consecutive days of full-contact practice. We'll see how he responds." ... Chicago scored 54 of its 106 points in the paint.