Greg Monroe Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
With the regular season winding down, the Chicago Bulls are running out of time and they played like it Sunday, rolling to a 109-94 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Sunday afternoon.
Nikola Mirotic poured in 28 points and Jimmy Butler added a career-high 14 assists, helping the Bulls avoid a series sweep at the hands of the Bucks. Despite the loss, the Bucks still won the season series 3-1.
Chicago (35-39) moved within 2 1/2 games of the Bucks in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Bucks (37-36) are tied with both Atlanta and Indiana for fifth place, although the Hawks own a tiebreaker advantage over the Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Bucks. Greg Monroe added 16 points and Khris Middleton 14.
Chicago hit 10 of 21 from three-point range and shot 54.1% overall from the field for the game.
Defense was the reason why the Bucks had entered play winning 11 of their last 13 games. That defense struggled against the Bulls on Sunday.
The Bucks travel to Charlotte on Tuesday night to face the Hornets.