The Milwaukee Bucks snapped a two-game losing streak in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with a dominant performance from Yanis Adetokunle, despite the struggles of highly touted free agent Damian Lillard.
Milwaukee defeated the Chicago Bulls 118-109 in their 2023-2024 NBA regular season home game at the Fifth Third Forum in Wisconsin, U.S., on Thursday (July 14).
After back-to-back losses to the Indiana Pacers (124-126) and Orlando Magic (97-112), Milwaukee (6-4, fifth in the Eastern Conference) rebounded with the win over Chicago.
Milwaukee was a heavy favorite to win the title this season after acquiring former Portland Trail Blazers star Lillard in a trade prior to the start of the season.
Expectations were high that Adetokunbo, considered one of the best players in the league beyond Milwaukee, and Lillard would pair well together inside and out, but Lillard’s play this season hasn’t been as good as it was in Portland.
In eight regular-season games in a Milwaukee uniform, he’s averaged 22.8 points, but his long-range 3-point percentage has dropped to 26.9 percent.
Again, he scored just 12 points in 32 minutes and committed five turnovers.
He shot 17 field goals, missing 14. Of his nine 3-pointers, only one hit the rim.
Adetokunbo was the reason Milwaukee won the game, even with Lillard, who is responsible for the entire outside attack, having a terrible game.
After struggling to average 44.5 points and 11 rebounds in the two-game losing streak, Adetokunbo had a monster night, scoring 35 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter alone to keep Chicago in the game. Lillard did not make a field goal in the fourth quarter and was limited to four points on free throws.
For Milwaukee, forward Bobby Portis came off the bench to support Adetokunbo with 19 points on 70 percent field goal shooting.
Nikola Vucevic added 26 points and 12 rebounds and Zach Rubin had 20 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.
The team shot just 38 percent from the field as a whole, with ace Dermar Derozan’s struggles being a major factor. Durant was held to 11 points and a 21.4 percent field goal percentage, and was stifled by Milwaukee’s defense.
At 4-7, Chicago sits in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. 무료슬롯게임
[14-day NBA stats]
Milwaukee 118-109 Chicago
Toronto 111-107 Washington
Boston 114-98 New York
Sacramento 132-120 Cleveland