Milwaukee Bucks Status Check:
Record: 24-19
Division: 7-6
Conference: 18-10
Home Record: 12-9
Last 10 Games: 7-3
Streak: Won 2
Last game: 117-90 win over Detroit
PPG: 98.0 (12^th)
Opponents PPG: 98.0 (17^th)
Offensive Rating: 103.4 (20^th)
Defensive Rating: 103.3 (8^th)
Pace: 94.4 (5^th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .473 (23^rd)
Turnover Percentage: .130 (4^th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .708 (28^th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .284 (12^th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .184 (24^th)
Opp. eFG%: .478 (5^th)
Opp. TO%: .147 (5^th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .212 (22^nd)
Leading scorer: Brandon Jennings (18.9)

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Bucks Injury Report:
None

Overview:
Chicago and Milwaukee will meet for the last time in the regular season tonight as the Bulls try to even the series at two games apiece and pull further ahead in the Central Division.

The Bulls got Luol Deng back last time out, but may be without Carlos Boozer tonight. Boozington will be a game-time decision because of a hamstring injury. Although he started January off on a great run, he has cooled as of late. Boozer is shooting just 40.5 percent over the last five games, and is averaging 12.8 points and 6.2 rebounds. However, he has played well so far against Milwaukee, averaging 21.0 points and 13.7 rebounds in the three previous games.

Deng, after missing five games, played 31 minutes against Charlotte. That’s a great sign going forward. Deng was averaging the most minutes in the league, so if Jimmy Butler’s emergence gives Lu fewer minutes, and in turn helps Butler develop, Bulls fans should be very pleased. Although the lighter load could just be because it was Deng’s first game back and Tom Thibodeau wanted to bring him back into it slowly. We’ll know for sure which it is if Deng is playing 45 minutes by the end of the week.

Rip Hamilton is averaging 18.7 points per game against the Bucks, his third best total against any opponent this season. He averaged 26.0 points per game over the first two games before going 2-11 in his 16 minutes of action in game three. Rip has scored in double figures just eight times since November (he was injured for much of December). He scored two points against Charlotte, and only played six minutes in the second half. Hamilton is probably going to continue losing minutes to Jimmy Butler, and when Rose returns, it may only get worse, with Kirk Hinrich taking some minutes at shooting guard. If Hamilton wants to stay in the lineup, he has to start making jumpers and force Thibs to have him on the floor (trading Rip would also solve this problem, which the Bulls are surely trying to do).

Even if the Bulls are without Boozer tonight, they do have a bit of an advantage, as Milwaukee will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

Milwaukee fell behind early against the Pistons Tuesday night, but then blew by Detroit behind 30 points from Brandon Jennings. Jennings was by far the best starter for the Bucks, who got a big lift from their bench. The Bucks’ reserves scored 59 points, led by 17 from Mike Dunleavy. Beno Udrih didn’t shoot well (3-9), but dished eleven assists. Samuel Dalembert recorded a double-double (12 points, 10 assists) off the pine in just 21 minutes.

The Pistons had their own gem off the bench, as Andre Drummond had a monster 18 points and 18 boards. The entire starting line-up for the Pistons combined for 19 rebounds.

Milwaukee, going up against a team that isn’t good at forcing turnovers, coughed it up just 10 times. They forced the Pistons into 21 turnovers, and scored 29 points off of them. The Bucks are 4th in turnover percentage and seventh in opponent turnover percentage. The Bulls have lost the turnover battle in the previous three games, but not by too much (15.3 to 12.3). Chicago has turned it over just eight (Lakers) and eleven (Bobcats) times in their last two games.

The Bucks got this big win without running their players into the ground—a novel idea right Mr. Thibodeau? Monta Ellis played the most minutes with 34. For comparison, Deng playing 31 minutes in a game causes me to celebrate (see above). Jennings did his damage in short time, scoring his 30 points in 30 minutes. And those were the only two guys that played about 30 minutes.

Jennings tore the Bulls up in the most recent matchup, scoring 35 points, and the Bulls blew a 27-point lead in another game to find themselves down in this series.

Chicago is 12-6 on the road, which is the best road record in the league, but over their next stretch they are going to prove how good they are away from the United Center. The Bulls play ten of their next 12 games on the road, with ten of those contests coming against playoff teams. The Bulls two home games over that stretch are against the top teams in each conference, San Antonio and Miami.

Stat of the night: The Bucks are averaging 12.3 blocks per game against the Bulls this season. Chicago is blocking 3.3 Milwaukee shots per match-up.

Milwaukee Bucks Status Check:
Record: 17-16
Division: 5-4
Conference: 14-8
Road Record: 7-8
Last 10 Games: 4-6
Streak: Won 1
Last game: 108-99 win over Phoenix
PPG: 96.3 (17^th)
Opponents PPG: 97.3 (15^th)
Offensive Rating: 102.2 (27^th)
Defensive Rating: 103.3 (8^th)
Pace: 93.6 (7^th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .468 (25^th)
Turnover Percentage: .132 (6^th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .708 (28^th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .279 (12^th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .186 (24^th)
Opp. eFG%: .479 (8^th)
Opp. TO%: .150 (3^rd)
Opp. FT/FGA: .218 (23^rd)
Leading scorer: Monta Ellis (19.2)

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Bucks Injury Report:
None

Overview:
Chicago goes for its fourth win in a row, which would be a season-high, when they face division rival Milwaukee, who is now under coach Jim Boylan.

The Bucks and Scott Skiles parted ways on Tuesday, and later that night Boylan led Milwaukee to a win over the Suns. Brandon Jennings led the way for the Bucks, tallying 29 points and nine assists, and leading seven Milwaukee players who scored in double figures.

The Bulls and Bucks have split their first two meetings of the year, with the away team winning both contests. Carlos Boozer and Rip Hamilton both scored 22 in the first match-up, a Bulls win. Chicago shot 39 percent from the field, but grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and went 25-26 from the charity stripe. Brandon Jennings scored 23 points, but the Bucks went just 7-10 from the line.

The Bucks are 28^th in defensive rebounding percentage, 24^th in free throws per field goal attempt and 23^rd in opponent free throws per field goal attempt.

The Bulls didn’t have the same kind of rebounding margin when the teams met in the United Center, with Chicago grabbing just one more offensive board than the Bucks (14-13). The Bulls hit five more free throws and Rip Hamilton dropped 30, but it wasn’t enough. Milwaukee’s bench scored 56 points compared to the Bulls’ bench—only Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and Nate Robinson got playing time off the pine—scoring just ten points. This was the worst game the bench put in all year, and it has been a lot better since then. Although being better than just ten points and six rebounds is not really that hard to do.

That loos to Milwaukee put the Bulls at 6-7 and is the last time they were under .500 on the season.

Carlos Boozer has been playing extremely well the past three games. Boozington is averaging 27.3 points per game and is shooting 60 percent over the last three contests. He has recorded a double-double in all three of those games, and is pulling down 11.3 boards per game. What that means is that Joakim Noah is finally getting some help. Noah is averaging 12 points, 11.5 rebounds and four assists over the last two games (also four turnovers as well, though).

Kirk Hinrich will be a game-time decision tonight, because of an elbow cut. Kirk is averaging 8.3 points while shooting 37 percent over his last four games.

Let’s not mince words: the Golden State Warriors are a bad basketball team. They entered today’s game against the Bulls 11-27 overall and only 7-10 at home. In terms of wins and losses, only the Minnesota Timberwolves (9-33) and New Jersey Nets (3-37) are worse.

The Warriors have had two main problems this season. First, they’ve suffered a bizarre number of injuries. Seriously, the Warriors have as many players out of action as they have available for games. Their injured list includes Anthony Morrow (strained right knee), Anthony Randolph (torn ligaments/avulsion fracture of the left ankle), Brandan Wright (left shoulder surgery), C.J. Watson (lacerated right hand/index finger), Kelenna Azubuike (left knee surgery),  Raja Bell (left wrist surgery), Ronny Turiaf (sprained left ankle) and Vladimir Radmanovic (strained right Achilles).

Crazy, right? I guess it’s safe to say the Warriors aren’t exactly oozing sympathy for the Bulls, who were without Kirk Hinrich (flu-like symptoms).

Golden State’s second problem has been their defense. Or, more accurately, their complete and rather embarrassing lack thereof. The Warriors rank 29th in Defensive Efficiency (108.7 Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions). And although they score a lot of points — they average 107.3 PPG, good for 3rd in the league — the Warriors are only 20th in Offensive Efficiency (103.5 Points Scored Per 100 Possessions). The point being, their offense isn’t nearly good enough to make up for their lousy defense.

In all honesty, Golden State’s best defense is the mind-numbing effect their uptempo, undisciplined style has on their opponent’s offense. That was definitely the case today. They suckered the Bulls into playing their style…and it worked.

The Bulls only have themselves to blame. Too many one-on-one plays, too little movement without the basketball, not enough passing and waaaay too many jump shots. In fact, 72 of Chicago’s 96 shots were jumpers. Sure, I could give a little stink eye to Tyrus Thomas, who attempted only two shots  at the rim (one of which got stuffed), but everybody was guilty of chucking…even Joakim Noah, who went 0-for-5 on jump shots (one of which was swatted). Has Noah ever attempted five jumpers in a game? Probably not. And there’s a very good reason for that.

Mind you, Golden State’s opponents hit 65 percent of their shots at the rim, which is second-worst in the league. This means that Chicago’s best strategy would have been to attack the basket relentlessly. Not only would that have earned them higher percentage shots, it would have gotten the Warriors in foul trouble…a real bonus considering Golden State coach Don Nelson only had eight players in uniform.

Instead, the Bulls were content to jack up outside shots, which probably explains why they hit only 36.5 percent of their field goals. That does not, however, explain why Chicago missed 11 of their 33 free throw attempts.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Golden State’s Andris Biedrins — who has appeared in only 14 games this season — is finally healthy. He set up camp in the paint and defied anybody who tried to challenge him. Biedrins grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds and blocked a career-high 8 shots. Now that he’s back and feeling like his old self, it’s very possible some of the Warriors’ defensive stats will improve. Probably only slightly, but still.

In addition to losing their minds on offense, the Bulls never really established themselves on defense. Nellie has always specialized in isolating his best offensive players to create mismatches. That’s precisely what he did against the Bulls, and you can see the results in the stat lines of Monta Ellis (36 points, 8 assists), Corey Maggette (32 points, 11-for-14 from the field, 10-for-11 from the line) and Stephen Curry (26 points, 5-for-8 from downtown, 6 assists).

Said Noah: “They’re match-up problems. And Maggette’s an unbelievable offensive talent. And Ellis is … he’s a monster out there. I think that they just played harder than us and they deserved the win.”

Now the Bulls are left to ponder one that got away, which could very well come back to haunt them. By the numbers, the Warriors were easily the worst team they’re going to face on this seven-game Western Conference road trip. If they don’t come through against the Clippers on Wednesday, an 0-7 trip wouldn’t be out of the question.

Said Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro: “When you lose there’s a lot of question marks. Our intensity was not at the level defensively that it needs to be at. We’re not going to win just out-scoring people. Especially Golden State, who can really put the ball in the basket. Those three guys are tough to cover off the dribble — we know that — but we should of done a better job with them.”

Well, you can’t change the past. Not without a DeLorean outfitted with a Flux Capacitor, anyway. So what can the Bulls do moving forward?

Said Vinny: “Play harder. Play smarter. With more intensity. And that’s what it’s going to take for us to win on the road. There’s no magic pill. There’s no perfect scenario. What it is, is, going to work — understanding, executing and getting after it.”

Sounds good. Now they need to go out and do it.

If you check last season’s schedule, you’ll notice this was the point of the year when the Bulls started to turn things around. After opening their road trip with a loss in Minnesota, the Bulls rebounded to beat the Clippers and eventually finished their seven-game trip 4-3. Let’s hope we see a repeat of that this season.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.