The Chicago Bulls visited the Milwaukee Bucks Friday after losing Wednesday’s season opener to the New Orleans Pelicans. A key storyline was how the Bulls would look without Lonzo Ball, who, as expected, was out after playing in his first real game since January of 2022. Other than that, observers are still very much waiting to see who this Bulls team is. Sans Demar DeRozan, the Bulls will likely spend the first part of this season establishing their new essence.

Chicago and Milwaukee went back and forth all game long, trading narrow leads. In the third quarter, the Bulls started to pull away thanks to a 39-point outburst, 12 of which came from Coby White. At the final buzzer, the Bulls walked off the floor with a double-digit lead and a 133-122 victory over a very good Bucks team. Here’s how it went down.

First Quarter

Josh Giddey got the scoring started with a nice pump fake and a floater before the Bucks hit a three in response. The next couple of minutes saw both teams playing some playground basketball, which included Giannis Antetokounmpo’s best impersonation of a jump shot and Coby White receiving a pass and taking four steps without dribbling.

However, once Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic and Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez hit threes, the teams were tied at 10 with seven and a half minutes remaining. Then, the Bucks started to gradually increase their lead.

While Milwaukee continued to score at will as the quarter progressed, Zach LaVine hit his 1,000th three-pointer as a member of the Bulls, which is a neat achievement. Only old Captain Kirk Hinrich has more in a Bulls uniform.

However, just as you might have been feeling pretty good about that, Jalen Smith found a way to miss a wide-open shot at the rim, and you were reminded you cheer for the Chicago Bulls. White did have a couple of nice plays, including a three in the closing seconds, though, and the Bulls brought it closer, ending the opening frame down 32-30.

Second Quarter

A Julian Phillips three is honestly not how I saw the Bulls opening their scoring in the second quarter, but we’ll take it. Chicago did manage to tie it up at 36 with a Patrick Williams three and then take a 39-38 lead on the next possession with a Smith three before immediately giving Milwaukee a wide-open three to give the lead back. Smith had another deep ball, though, to give Chicago a 42-41 lead again, making this very much a competitive basketball game.

Then, you know, Bulls stuff happened. Down 43-42, the Bulls corralled a rebound. Ayo Dosunmu dribbled it off of his foot, and the ball was heading out of bounds. Dosunmu ran after it, grabbing the ball just before it went out, and tossing it lazily back in play. Milwaukee nabbed it, getting it to Antetokounmpo for a poster and-one dunk.

Zach LaVine checked in with just under seven minutes remaining to try to stop the bleeding with the Bulls down 49-42. Immediately, he kickstarted a play that led to a Giddey floater, made a turnaround jumper, and corralled two boards to get Chicago within three before Milwaukee’s lead started to climb again.

Two cool moments happened in the second quarter. For one: Matas Buzelis scored his first NBA points on a one-legged turnaround jumper. The second was a White three with two and a half minutes to go that brought the Bulls within four and moved White into sole possession of the third-most threes made in a Chicago uniform, breaking a tie with Ben Gordon.

At the half, Chicago was shooting 48% from the field (23/48) and 45% from three (10/22), a concerted effort to take more shots from beyond the arc. It was also paying off, keeping Chicago in the game. LaVine and White each had 17 points while Vucevic had eight points, and Giddey chipped in six points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Third Quarter

Giannis Antetokounmpo dunking aggressively on the Bulls wasn’t the best way for the second half to start for the visitors, but a couple of Chicago buckets in response put Zach LaVine and company in the lead 67-66. Then, the two teams continued to trade baskets, keeping the score close. Chicago continued to string together buckets while playing decent defense, and a Nikola Vucevic three put the Bulls up 79-72 with 7:34 left in the period, forcing a Milwaukee timeout.

As the quarter progressed, the Bulls continued to find ways to keep the Bucks at bay, including Giddey hitting a cutting LaVine perfectly on his way to a high-flying layup with a little over five minutes remaining. LaVine followed that with a deep, pull-up three for his next bucket.

White then drained two three-pointers to give the Bulls a double-digit lead with just over a minute remaining at 102-92. The Bucks answered with a three of their own, but Chicago still went into the final quarter leading 102-95. In the third, the Bulls scored a whopping 39 points with White responsible for 12 of them.

Fourth Quarter

The Bucks came out and made a three immediately to bring the game within five. They followed up with another three, cutting the Bulls’ lead to one. Then, Patrick Williams answered with a three of his own to get the Bulls’ fourth-quarter scoring started. As the frame progressed, we started seeing something that’s been a rarity for the Bulls in recent memory — scrappy play and high intensity while chasing rebounds and loose balls. For the longest time, it felt like the entire team was just hoping Alex Caruso would do it.

However, with just over nine minutes to play, White got a steal and rushed down the court to take a three. He missed, but Smith grabbed a strong rebound and kicked it out to Dosunmu. He hoisted up a three of his own that missed, but Dalen Terry screamed in to get the rebound, putting up a shot and getting fouled in the process.

As the quarter wound down, Chicago continued to make plays to hit open three-point shooters and hustle to get offensive boards while White continued to grab steals, and the Bulls increased their lead over the Bucks. At the end of the night, Chicago gathered a convincing victory over Milwaukee 133-122.

White led the way with 35 points, six boards, five assists, and four steals on 12/20 shooting and 7/13 from deep. LaVine had 25 points, Vucevic posted a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Giddey flirted with a triple-double in 24 minutes with 17 points, six rebounds, and nine assists.

The 3-Point Tale

In previous seasons, it’d be a rare sight to see the Bulls take more three-point attempts than their opponent and an even rarer sight to see them make more. However, in this one, Chicago took 47 threes to Milwaukee’s 40, making 21 of them for a 45% clip from deep.

As previously mentioned, White was 7/13 from three, Vucevic was 4/9, which was a lovely surprise, Smith was 3/5 off the bench, and LaVine, Williams, and Giddey added two triples each. If the Bulls can keep shooting and making threes at a higher rate than last year, they’re giving themselves a much better chance to win games.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Bulls have their home opener Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. They’ll face the Oklahoma City Thunder, which will be bittersweet for Bulls fans as former fan favorite Alex Caruso — sent to OKC for Josh Giddey — will return to the United Center. Chicago will look to build off the momentum from an impressive win over the Bucks.