|
 "He's so long so if I would have shot my normal shot, he might
have got a piece of it," said Dunleavy, who banked a 3-pointer with
5.8 seconds left to give Bulls a 91-90 victory.
"Henson was switching off, so I knew I had to get a lot of arc and
get it over him," Dunleavy said. "But just straight as an arrow, it
just banked in. When it left my hand, I thought it was going in. I
wasn't surprised when it happened. Just tried to get it up over
Henson and it did.
"So basically what I'm saying is, I took a bad shot and it went in."
Bad or not, Dunleavy's shot brought the Bulls' three-game losing
streak to an end and prevented Chicago from falling twice in a week
to the Bucks, who own the Eastern Conference's worst record (5-18).
The Bulls were in danger of becoming only the second team to lose
twice to Milwaukee this season, but were bailed out late by
Dunleavy's clutch shooting and some key defensive moves by center
Joakim Noah.
It was Noah who forced a jump ball with 16.2 second left and the
Bulls down by two and then won the jump by tipping it to forward
Carlos Boozer and it was Noah who thwarted the Bucks last chance to
tie by swatting away guard O.J. Mayo's chance at a buzzer-beater
with 0.9 seconds left.
He scored 10 of his game-high 21 points and grabbed seven of his 18
rebounds — three offensive — while blocking three shots in the
final quarter.
"Joakim was a monster throughout the game," Bulls coach Tom
Thibodeau said. "Defensively, he's been terrific from the start of
the season but offensively, you can see his timing is back. His
playmaking ... he's really getting comfortable out there."
All five Bulls starters scored in double digits.
Along with Noah, guard Jimmy Butler had 16 points in his first game
back from a toe injury that held him out of seven games. Butler
played 36 minutes and went 4 of 12 from the field.
[to top of second column] |
"I felt all right," said Butler, who played college ball in
Milwaukee for Marquette University. "Rusty. Out of shape.
Terrible. But I'm glad my guys pulled this win out. We
definitely needed one and we stuck it out until the end."
Boozer added 14 points and guard Kirk Hinrich, who entered the
game 4 for his last 31, went 5 of 12 from the field and finished
with 13 points.
Milwaukee fell behind by 10 late in the first quarter but used a
12-2 run to take a 32-31 lead midway through the second and led
51-47 at halftime. But after shooting 50 percent in the first
half, the Bucks cooled off in the second, going 14 of 36 from
the field and committing seven turnovers.
"We had opportunities to put away down the stretch," Bucks coach
Larry Drew said. "It never should have come down to the final
play. We just didn't make plays going down the stretch and had
too many bad possessions. You can't have that going down the
stretch of a close game."
Guard Gary Neal led the Bucks with 17 points off the bench while
Henson had 15 with eight rebounds and four blocks. Mayo scored
14 points while forward Khris Middleton finished with 10 for
Milwaukee, which lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Rookie forward Giannis Antetokounmpo pulled down a career-high
nine rebounds for the Bucks.
NOTES: Chicago has won seven straight in Milwaukee, matching the
Bulls' longest road winning streak against the Bucks. .... The
Bulls had been 0-9 this season when trailing after three
quarters. ... Bucks G Gary Neal's 17 points were his highest
total since scoring 18 at Miami on Nov. 12. He averaged 6.5
points in his last four games while limited with a foot injury.
... C Larry Sanders, out since suffering a thumb injury in an
off-the-court altercation Nov. 3, was cleared for basketball
activities and began working out with the Bucks. There is no
timetable on his return, according to coach Larry Drew. ...
Bulls F Mike Dunleavy grew up in Milwaukee, where his father was
an assistant and later head coach and general manager of the
Bucks and played the last two seasons for the Bucks.
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