MILWAUKEE _ As far as Zach LaVine is concerned, the time for talking is over.
"You can only say so much because we keep doing the same thing over and over again," LaVine said of offensive lulls for the short-handed Bulls.
It's time for action.
The Bulls displayed plenty of that Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum but ultimately came up on the short end of yet another dispiriting loss, this one 116-113. Khris Middleton took a pass from Malcolm Brogdon and buried a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left after a mad scramble from an initial defensive stop. The Bulls failed to corral two loose balls during the sequence.
Justin Holiday then missed a good look on a tying 3-point attempt near the buzzer. Holiday extended his franchise record with at least one 3-pointer to 33 games but missed eight of 10 from beyond the arc, including the potential tying shot.
"I thought for sure it was going in," Holiday said. "I'll shoot it 10 times again if I could."
Holiday's streak of six straight games with at least three 3-pointers ended. That tied the franchise record shared by him, Craig Hodges and Lauri Markkanen.
"Justin is shooting at such a high level," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We'll take the looks that he had."
The Bulls have lost eight of nine.
Giannis Antetokounmpo posted 36 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Bucks. Brogdon added 24 points, including making a career-high six 3-pointers without a miss from that distance.
Jabari Parker and Zach LaVine each scored 24 points to lead the Bulls. LaVine's reverse layup off a nifty out-of-bounds play by coach Fred Hoiberg tied the score with 33.5 seconds left.
After failing to score on Saturday in Minnesota, Ryan Arcidiacono scored a career-high 22 points for the second straight game. He sank a career-high five 3-pointers.
"I love the way we're competing," Hoiberg said. "We did execute down the stretch. We just had that one stretch where we lost all our movement. When we had movement, we had a lot of good looks at the basket."
Antetokounmpo repeatedly bulled his way into the paint and dunked over seemingly helpless defenders. The Bucks posted a 56-44 edge in points in the paint.
Robin Lopez outscored his twin brother Brook for just the third time in 20 career meetings. Robin scored a season-high 17 points with Brook getting 12.
The Bulls nudged ahead with 1 minute, 48 seconds left on LaVine's nice drive and dish to Parker for a dunk and three-point play chance. Parker missed the free throw and Antetokounmpo dunked to tie the game. After the teams traded missed 3-pointers, Parker got his shot blocked and lost the ball out-of-bounds.
Antetokounmpo then fouled out Wendell Carter Jr. with 36 seconds left and sank both free throws for a 113-111 lead.
When the Bulls visited Fiserv Forum on Nov. 16, they cruised to a 40-27 lead after one quarter and a 22-point, first-half advantage before an epic collapse in which they trailed by 22 and lost by 19.
This time, they led 40-30 after the first quarter and by 12 in the first half before losing the lead. In fact, they lost their lead in 4:06 after losing the 22-point lead in 8:26 on Nov. 16.
This time, they hung around for the competitive finish.
But it all merely added up to another stomach-churning loss.
"Nobody is going to feel sorry for us," LaVine said.
