Chicago @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 7, 2019 ) Milwaukee 122, Chicago 112

The Milwaukee Bucks are winners of five of their last six games but will have to continue their hot play without one of their key players. The Bucks will play their first game this season without All-Star swingman Khris Middleton when they host the Chicago Bulls on Friday.

Middleton suffered a thigh contusion in Sunday's 121-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and was ruled out for the next three or four weeks after undergoing an MRI exam on Monday. Middleton is averaging 18.5 points and 5.7 rebounds as the team's best secondary scoring option behind reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who averages 29.7 points, 14.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists and put up at least 30 points in each of the last five contests. Middleton would have provided another perimeter defender with some length to go up against Bulls rookie guard Cody White, who knocked down seven 3-pointers en route to a season-high 27 points in a 120-102 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday. White finished 7-of-11 from beyond the arc - with all seven makes coming in the fourth quarter - in the win after going a combined 3-of-26 over the previous five contests.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)

ABOUT THE BULLS (4-7): Chicago went into the fourth quarter tied with New York but outscored the Knicks 35-17 over the final 12 minutes as White caught fire with his former college coach, North Carolina's Roy Williams, in the stands. "I just got hot, I guess," White told reporters. "I saw my first one fall and I had been shooting it bad. It was good to see that first one fall and I just got into a rhythm." Still looking for a rhythm is forward Lauri Markkanen, who went 1-of-5 from 3-point range on Tuesday and is shooting 27.3 percent from beyond the arc on the season.

ABOUT THE BUCKS (7-3): One of the players expected to shoulder more of the scoring load with Middleton sidelined will be center Brook Lopez, who knocked down a key 3-pointer down the stretch and finished with 15 points in Sunday's win. "Our team has great trust in one another," Lopez told reporters. "I think our team just did a great job of looking for the first option, obviously Giannis, and he made a play after that and the ball just moved. We have that trust in one another." Point guard Eric Bledsoe is stepping up as well and scored a season-high 25 points on Sunday - his fourth consecutive 20-plus effort.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Bucks SG Kyle Korver (head) sat out Sunday and is day-to-day.

2. Bulls C Wendell Carter Jr. collected 17 points and 12 rebounds on Tuesday for his seventh double-double.

3. Milwaukee took all four meetings last season by an average of 11.5 points.

PREDICTION: Bucks 122, Bulls 112