CHICAGO _ The Bulls were relieved to have Lauri Markkanen for Monday's game against the Bucks after he was listed as questionable because of an illness.
The bad news: Giannis Antetokounmpo played, too, back from a two-game absence caused by a back injury. The Bucks forward had a quiet (by his standards) first half with 12 points, but, right on cue, began to dominate the lane with 9 points in the third quarter.
Khris Middleton led all scorers with 25 points and Antetokounmpo added 23 as the Bucks beat the Bulls for the third time this season, 123-102 at the United Center. The Bucks improved their NBA-best record to 30-5.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 19 points and had five assists. Markkanen and Coby White each scored 18, Wendell Carter Jr. added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Tomas Satoransky had 10 points and seven assists.
Early in the second quarter, White made three straight 3-pointers to cut into a 12-point deficit.
The Bulls trailed by just 55-52 at halftime, and that three-point edge was aided by Carter's foul on Eric Bledsoe's 3-point attempt with a tenth of a second left. Bledsoe made two of his three free-throw attempts.
The Bucks opened an 18-point lead with a 40-point third, with five Bucks hitting 3s, including Antetokounmpo. The Bulls went cold behind the arc, missing eight of their 10 attempts in the quarter.
The Bulls had a couple of spurts, such as Markkanen's and Satoransky's back-to-back 3s, but they never made a real dent in the Bucks' lead.
The Bulls shot just 37.4% compared 54.8% for the Bucks, and the visitors also had a whopping 24-8 edge in free throw attempts, outscoring the Bulls there 20-5.
The Bulls didn't make a single trip to the line in the first half.
The Bulls shot their first free throws 2{ minutes into the second half when Kris Dunn drew a shooting foul on Brook Lopez.
