With an NBA-best 30-5 record, the Milwaukee Bucks are off to a great start, but Giannis Antetokounmpo is more concerned with the team’s finish this season.
The NBA Most Valuable Player on Monday produced 23 points and 10 rebounds after missing two games with a sore back as Milwaukee pulled away in the second half for a 123-102 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Antetokounmpo, the league’s second-leading scorer with an average of 30.5 points per game ahead of Monday, played only 27 minutes and sat out the final five and a half because of the lopsided score.
Photo: AFP
He was eight of 14 from the field, with six assists.
“We won 30 games before January. It’s cool, but we can always do better,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to keep improving because the goal is to play late in the season.”
Khris Middleton scored 25 points for the Bucks, while Eric Bledsoe had 15 points in 16 minutes after missing the previous eight games with a fractured right leg.
“We move way faster with him,” Antetokounmpo said of Bledsoe. “He’s like a sports car. He goes so fast and we’ve got to follow him. It’s always good to have him back.”
Zach LaVine scored 19 points for Chicago, but shot just seven of 23 from the field.
Lauri Markkanen and Coby White had 18 points apiece, while Wendell Carter Jr added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls.
“In the first half, I think we were there, but I think in the second half we weren’t playing our best basketball,” Markkanen said. “We’ve shown we can play with anybody, but obviously we’ve got to do it for 48 minutes to actually win the game. We can’t have those lapses we did in the third [quarter]. We’re capable of getting those wins.”
Milwaukee jumped out to an 8-0 lead as Chicago missed their first six shots.
The Bucks led 31-20 at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 33-20 early in the second on a basket by Robin Lopez, but the Bulls — after shooting nine of 29 in the first — suddenly got hot from behind the three-point arc.
White and Markkanen each had three three-pointers in the second quarter to trim the Milwaukee advantage. Chicago were eight of 14 on threes in the quarter.
With just under two minutes left in the first half, White hit a driving scoop off the glass to give the Bulls a 52-51 lead, their first of the game.
Antetokounmpo quickly answered with a put-back on the other end to put the Bucks back on top.
Milwaukee led 55-52 at halftime thanks in part to a 15-0 advantage in free-throw attempts (making 12).
Any chance of a Chicago upset was quickly dashed in the third quarter.
The Bucks opened with a 17-4 run for a 72-56 lead — with Antetokounmpo capping the spurt with a thunderous dunk that drew a loud roar from the United Center crowd.
“There’s momentum plays, there’s things that just give your team energy and may be deflating for your opponent,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “It was great. For him to miss a couple of games, and come back and have a dunk like that was impressive.”
Milwaukee led 95-77 after three quarters.
Kyle Korver hit a three-pointer 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the fourth quarter for a 105-81 lead, the Bucks’ biggest of the game.
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