The first meeting of the…Neighbors to the East this year came quite late in the regular season and wasn’t as good as we expected. The Bucks and the Bulls were clearly fighting for the score rather than the spectacle at the Fiserv Forum, with Milwaukee taking the win on points (94-90) and even reclaiming first place in the District.

Giannis Antetokounbo carried his team again (30 points, 11/21 two points, 8/12 shots, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks in under 37 minutes), on a night in which he was very aggressive , but also quite … bad luck with attempts that could have ended. Chris Middleton (16 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) and Bobby Portis (12 points, 13 rebounds and 5/15 shots) followed him, Jru Holliday stayed in sixth for a second game after his return, Grayson Allen was sent off in the third third after a hard unsportsmanlike foul on Alex Caruso. At 29-19 the Bucks (16-8 home and 13-11 away) playing back-to-back with the Sacramento Kings in the early hours of Sunday at 1:00 a.m.

At 28-16 the Bulls for their part (16-6 home and 12-10 away) who had their key guards (Lonzo Bowl – Jacques Lavigne), their key forwards (Patrick Williams – Javode Green) and non playwright Derrick Jones . DeMar DeRozan fought tenaciously (35 points, 9/15 two points, 17/18 shots, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) and had just one penalty in 38:27, but despite some help from Nikola Vucevic (19 points, 7/17 shots). , 12 rebounds, 3 assists), found no other support. Chicago finished the game with 7/38 three-pointers (18.4%), but Milwaukee could have left it with a big win. The two teams will play again three times before the end of the regular season, with their crowd creating a beautiful vendetta as the Fiserv Forum had many thousands of Taurus fans adding color to the derby.

The race

The Bucks didn’t start the match well. They had 1/6 threes in the first five minutes, they conceded an 0-8 series from the Bulls, and they saw the Chicago team fans… emerge early. Portis was very wide, especially from the periphery, and that 12-12 in the ninth minute (!) seemed very alien to two teams so talented, but John’s return from the first few breaths gave the Bucks breath, who held a six-six lead Points built up (22-16), with Antetokunbo hitting 10 points and Tyler Cook charging three fouls.

Surprisingly, the Bulls kept Cook (Two-Way) grounded early in the second period as they had no other body to crush Giannis. DeRozan had read the home defense well now, and with chants of “MVP-MVP” from the podium, he carried his team while Middleton missed shots but kept his own team in front of goal 45-44 by halftime, to say the least, as the Men Bucks 5/20 had three points and the Bulls only 2/17.

The picture of the game did not change at the beginning of the second half. Milwaukee was in front without moving away, Chicago didn’t find the rim shot they needed and the score stayed low. Grayson Allen’s flagrant 2 to Caruso sent the Bucks player into the dressing room, the Bulls guard scored three points immediately after his very bad fall, Matt Thomas followed him up with his own shot and the 60-60 showed a thriller to the end.

After the hosts had three points at the end of the third period with 6/25 (24%) and the guests with 27/5 (18.5%), the two coaches knew that defense and consistency would judge the game. After an intensive discussion with Budenholzer, Matthews did a good job of covering DeRozan, Giannis scored after 1/2 of his own shots from the side to make it 79:76, while the Bulls’ good shots found their way again and ironed it out again. Coby White had 0/9 threes, Middleton and Holiday found holes in defence, Vucevic and DeRozan responded.

With 3:17 to go, Budenholzer called a timeout at 87:83, Giannis and Vucevic putt from a big basket to make it 92:88 in 46′, DeRozan reduced shots to two but missed a three that would hit the Bulls bring into the lead. Middleton had 2/2 shots for 94-90 at 15.8″, which was the bottom line as the Bulls missed the final by three shots, causing them to miss an opportunity to put even more pressure on the Bucks.

THE TWELVE MINUTES: 24-20, 45-44, 68-69, 94-90

MILGUOKI BUKS (Mike Budenholzer): Middleton 16 (5/11 two points, 1/4 three points, 3/6 shots, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 foul), Antitokunbo 30 (11/21 two points, 0/3 three points, 8/12 shots, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 errors), Portis 12 (4/8 two points, 1/7 three points, 1/2 shots, 13 rebounds) , Allen 5 (1), Hill 4 (4 rebounds), Conaton 2, DiVincenzo 7 (1 treble, 2 rebounds, 3 assists), Holiday 13 (4/9 two points, 1/3 trebles, 2/ 2 shots, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Matthews 5 (1)

CHICAGO BULLS (Billy Donovan): DeRozan 35 (9/15 two points, 0/3 three points, 17/18 shots, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Cook 4 (7 rebounds), Vucevic 19 (5/10 two points, 2/ 7 three points, 3/3 shots, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks), Dosunmu 5 (1 3-pointer, 5 rebounds, 6 assists), White 7 (0/9 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) , Brown 2, Caruso 7 (1/6 three points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists), Thomas 11 (3), Hill

Milwaukee Bucks team stats: 28/58 two points, 6/31 three points, 20/28 shots, 63 rebounds, 20 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 8 errors, 17 fouls

Chicago Bulls team stats: 24/47 two points, 7/38 three points, 21/24 shots, 57 rebounds, 21 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks, 8 errors, 21 fouls