Bulls Charge Through Bucks
The Chicago Bulls avoided a third straight loss at the Bradley Center to the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday. The Bucks kept up with Chicago for most of the game, but a surge n the third quarter pushed the Bulls ahead enough to keep a lead and win.
Luol Deng scored 19 points, Derrick Rose had 17 and the surging Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 83-75 on Saturday night.
Chicago has won six of seven to improve to 15-4 since Jan. 14, putting pressure on Boston and Miami at the top of the Eastern Conference. Joakim Noah had eight points and 17 rebounds for the Bulls, who beat the Heat 93-89 on Thursday night.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored a second-high 16 points and John Salmons added 14 points for the Bucks.
Earl Boykins entered the game for the first time in the fourth quarter and scored Milwaukee's first 10 points of the period. Salmons hit a 3-pointer to trim the Bulls' lead to 78-72 with 3:56 remaining.
Rose then drove the lane and hit a wide-open Kyle Korver, who drained a 3-pointer. After Andrew Bogut hit one free throw for the Bucks, Korver made another jumper with 2:21 remaining to put the game away.
Carlos Boozer added 13 points for Chicago, which shook off a slow start to take the opener of an important five-game road trip. Noah had 13 rebounds in the first half alone in his third game back following thumb surgery.
The Bulls grabbed control midway through the third quarter. Trailing by one, they put together a 19-5 run to grab a 66-53 lead on Deng's reverse layup with 1:27 remaining. Boozer had eight points in the surge.
Milwaukee made just eight of 23 shots in the third.
NOTES: Bucks F Ersan Ilyasova missed the game due to a concussion he suffered in a collision in practice on Friday with center Jon Brockman. He is listed as day to day. ... The Bucks recalled rookie F Larry Sanders from Fort Wayne of the NBA Development League. ... Chicago improved to 12-0 against Central Division teams.
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