In the 2024/25 home opener, the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Chicago Bulls 133:122.

NBA.com Box Score

Damian Lillard continued the momentum out of the gates that he sparked in the season opener against Philadelphia. He scored 13 points in the first frame and went 2 of 4 from long range. Zach LaVine contributed 11 goals of his own for the Bulls, but Milwaukee was able to build a 32-30 lead by the second quarter.

Chicago wouldn't disappear in the second quarter. Coby White felt it from downtown, hitting several three-pointers on his way to 17 points in the first half. Zach LaVine and Giannis Antetokounmpo also agreed with this performance. At halftime, the Bucks had a slim lead of 64-63.

The Bucks of the third quarter came early in the third quarter. Chicago strung together a few baskets and quickly flipped the script to take the lead. Milwaukee's defense could not be stopped, leading to the Bulls flirting with a double-digit lead. At one point they actually managed to exceed that lead, but the Bucks cut the lead to 102-95 before the fourth period. Coby White was an absolute menace, scoring a total of 29 points in multiple quarters.

Milwaukee couldn't muster anything to stop the hot-shooting Bulls from starting the fourth period. Coby White moved on and the rest of Chicago did its thing. It was the same story in the fourth as the Bucks failed to combine stops with points. The Bulls would fend them off and escape town with a 133-122 victory.

Statistics that stood out

Coby White was absolutely deadly for the Bulls. Milwaukee simply didn't have an answer for him. Whenever a Bucks run was produced, White was there to stop it with a shot of his own on the other side. He played a big role for Chicago in the third quarter when the Bucks were unable to mount any kind of defense. A Bulls fan I know wrote to me saying he passed Ben Gordon on the Bulls' all-time 3 p.m. list tonight. With his performance tonight he definitely looked like Ben Gordon in the 2009 Boston series with his 35 points.

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