The I-94 rivalry kicked off Thursday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center as the Bucks held onto a 108-97 victory over their Chicago Bull neighbors from down south.
On a night that featured the a nationally-televised game in Milwaukee on TNT for the first time since 2002, the Bucks cornerstone players of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker put on yet another show. Antetokounmpo finished with a game-high 30 points and Parker put in 28 of his own. Together, the two totaled 58 of Milwaukee’s 108 points.
The Bucks wasted no time jumping out front, as they finished the first quarter on a 20-10 run, pushing their lead to 30-18 when the horn sounded. That lead would balloon immediately in the second quarter, with Milwaukee flirting with 20-point leads throughout the 12 minutes. Similar to the Hawks game, the Bucks came off the court at the break up by nearly 20 points, 64-45.
The near mirror image scenario would provided the opportunity for the Bucks to use their situation as a building block. Just a few nights ago, their 20-point lead over Atlanta evaporated to nothing and they eventually ended up losing the game.
Tonight, that situation nearly came true again. Chicago would take punch after punch, but they would never be knocked out until late in the action. After being down 22 points entering the fourth quarter, key plays from Jimmy Butler & Co. found Milwaukee being forced to return the tandem of Antetokounmpo and Parker back on the floor. The Bulls finally slashed the lead to single digits when Bobby Portis sank a two-point shot with 4:33 to go, making it 99-89.
The Bucks would quickly get two points back off a Tony Snell layup, but a Doug McDermott 3-pointer brought out the visiting red in the crowd with a mighty roar. That same crowd would be brought back to their feet when Butler connected on a 3-pointer with 3:03 remaining and the Bulls down just eight, 103-95.
It seemed as if the momentum would not stop swinging Chicago’s way. With 2:30 remaining, Matthew Dellavedova would commit a turnover off a palming violation. However, he would quickly receive an opportunity to redeem himself, and it was a big one. With 1:34 to play and the game still sitting at an eight-point Milwaukee lead, the Aussie drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing, pushing the Bucks’ advantage back to double digits.
Jason Kidd noted the importance of Dellavedova’s clutch play coming down the stretch.
“It’s important to have a security blanket who understands the game,” said Kidd. “He has a very high basketball IQ, understands the moment and is not scared. To be able to run a pick-and-roll with Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and Jabari [Parker] and execute to get the shot he wants coming down the stretch shows not just that he has a high basketball IQ, but that he was paying attention when he was playing on that Cleveland team. He knows how to handle the moments, and he can share that with our younger guys.”
The bench was without Michael Beasley, but players still contributed. Mirza Teletovic filled in with 13 points.
“It shows our depth,” said Kidd. “When someone is down, someone has to step up and Mirza did that tonight.”
Jimmy Butler led Chicago with 21 points. Dwyane Wade mixed in a quiet 20 points as well.
Up next, the Bucks head to Chicago to play the Bulls tomorrow night, completing a back-to-back matchup.