Milwaukee boxer Giannis Antetokunampo lost control of the # 34 ball after being fouled by the Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Vusevic # 9 at United Center on April 05, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images / AFP
Brooke Lopez added a season-high of 28 points, Chris Middleton added 19 points and Jaru Holiday added 11 points and 13 assists to give the visiting Milwaukee Box a 127-106 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
Milwaukee (49-30) closed the two-game losing streak to tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, trailing the Miami Heat by 2 games.
Brooke is feeling it. 3 pic.twitter.com/UiRdcBJbD9
– Milwaukee Box (@ Box) April 6, 2022
Despite the defeat, the Bulls secured their first play-off berth in five seasons when the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to Orlando early Tuesday. Chicago (45-34) is already confident of a top-six pick and will avoid the conference play-in tournament.
DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 40 points for Chicago, reaching the plateau for the fifth time this season when he shot -26 for 16 from the floor. Efforts were not enough to shoot 52.9 percent of the box and offset seven double-figure scorers.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee, which led to 24. Bobby Portis had 13 points and nine rebounds, Grayson Allen added 13 points and Wesley Mathews added 11 points.
Patrick Williams scored 18 points for Chicago, and Kobe White was next with 13 points. Alex Caruso made eight rebounds and Tristan Thompson made seven rebounds for the Bulls, who shot 42.9 percent and were 53-46 out. Zach LaVine Missed game with left knee pain.
Milwaukee has maintained its dominance against Central Division rivals the Bulls, sweeping the four-game season series and beating Chicago 16 times in the last 17 meetings.
The Boxes have outscored the Bulls by 28 and 21 points since March 22, after the teams won the first two games by a combined 10 points.
Middleton and Allen gave up a balanced attack with 12 points. Milwaukee shot 54.8 percent, compared to 37.7 percent for Chicago, which benefited from DeRozan’s 20 first-half points.
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