Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Carlos Boozer registered a double-double
of 19 points and 13 rebounds to help the Chicago Bulls to an 81-72 win over
the Milwaukee Bucks in what was an offensive struggle from the opening tip.
Mike Dunleavy tallied 18 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc, Taj
Gibson netted 12 and Jimmy Butler added 10 points for Chicago, which won its
eighth consecutive road game over Milwaukee for the first time in franchise
history.
Joakim Noah had eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Bulls' fourth
straight win overall.
Chicago shot 38.7 percent from the floor, but held Milwaukee to a meager 31.8
percent shooting.
O.J. Mayo scored a team-high 16 points, while Ersan Ilyasova and Luke Ridnour
each posted 14 points in the loss, Milwaukee's fourth straight defeat.
Brandon Knight scored 12 points on 5-of-21 shooting and Miroslav Raduljica
added 10 points as the Bucks fell to 3-14 at home.
Knight made a jumper with 5:09 left in the fourth to pull Milwaukee within
one, 73-72. From that point, the Bucks went 0-for-11 from the field down the
stretch and were held scoreless by Chicago's stingy defensive unit.
Dunleavy quickly answered Knight's jumper with one of his own, then scored on
a layup and a pair of free throws to increase the Chicago advantage to 79-72
with 1:16 to play.
Milwaukee shot 6-of-23 in the fourth quarter, but surprisingly shot better
than the Bulls, who were 4-of-16.
"Going down the stretch you have to make plays and we did not make plays,"
said Bucks head coach Larry Drew. "We forced a couple shots down the stretch
and it probably wasn't the best selection on some shots, but you have to make
plays."
Ilyasova scored five points during a 10-1 spurt to open the game for
Milwaukee. Dunleavy made Chicago's first bucket 5:13 into the contest and the
Bulls trailed 12-5 in the early going.
The Bucks led by as many as 11 in the quarter and owned a 27-20 advantage
heading to the second.
Dunleavy buried back-to-back 3s to cap a 13-1 charge midway through the second
quarter and help Chicago to a 35-32 lead.
The Bulls brought a slim 47-45 lead into the locker room at the half and
extended the margin to 69-59 heading into he fourth.
Game Notes
John Henson missed his sixth straight game for the Bucks with a sprained left
ankle ... Boozer returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sore
right knee ... Chicago outscored Milwaukee 27-9 from the free-throw line ...
The Bucks edged the Bulls 5-2 on the fastbreak ... The Bulls largest lead was
15 ... Each team committed 12 turnovers.
