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The Bucks will look to end the three-game drought during a visit
to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, when they aim to come
untracked from behind the 3-point arc.
A 139-118 loss at NBA-leading Boston on Christmas Day saw the
Celtics drill 19 baskets from 3-point range to Milwaukee's 13.
Grayson Allen, the Bucks' leading 3-point shooter at 41.2
percent, missed each of his three attempts from deep and has
tried just 17 long-range attempts in his past seven games.
"The sentiment of getting more threes up, I agree with and I
need to do that," Allen said. "I need to find ways to do that."
Milwaukee has been without Khris Middleton (right knee soreness)
for the past five games. Middleton told the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel the swelling in his knee gradually has subsided as he
takes the injury day-by-day.
"Just trying to make sure that the next time I go back out there
I'll be out there for the long run," Middleton said.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 27 points at Boston to lead five
Milwaukee players in double figures.
Chicago, meanwhile, saw its season-high, three-game winning
streak snapped with a 133-118 loss to the visiting Houston
Rockets on Monday. Chicago surrendered a 17-1 third-quarter run
in the opener of a four-game homestand that concludes with three
straight contests against Central Division foes.
The Bulls, who are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, are
eager to make up ground. The urgency the team showed during the
winning streak seemingly dissipated against the Rockets, who
opened the game on a 23-5 tear.
Chicago's DeMar DeRozan, who scored a team-high 31 points,
called the start "unacceptable."
"We can't feel out games," DeRozan said. "We gotta go out the
gate and treat it like it's the fourth quarter. That's just how
we have to play. We have to be more aware of that."
Monday marked the first time the Bulls have lost while leading
at halftime this season, stopping a string of eight straight
wins in that scenario to start the campaign.
A lack of depth, especially on the defensive side, was evident
down the stretch as the Bulls played without Alex Caruso
(concussion), Javonte Green (right knee soreness) and Derrick
Jones Jr. (left ankle sprain).
"In the fourth, we started to try to switch just to keep the
ball in front of us," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "I know
(Nikola Vucevic) got caught in a couple mismatches, which I was
fine with because I felt they were hurting us from behind the
line because we got into rotations. I was just trying to do
something different.
"But whatever you have out there group-wise, there's enough out
there to win in my opinion. We have to be better defensively. We
have to coach them better and help them more."
Chicago edged host Milwaukee 118-113 on Nov. 23 in the first of
four meetings between the teams. DeRozan scored 36 points while
the Bulls drilled 18 3-pointers and shot 42.9 percent from
distance.
Milwaukee has won 16 of the last 18 games between the teams,
going back to January 2018.
--Field Level Media
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