Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls Preview & Game Thread: Bull in the headlights

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 03: Kyle Kuzma #18 of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots the ball against Matas Buzelis #14 of the Chicago Bulls during the first quarter at Fiserv Forum on February 03, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading an

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

The Milwaukee Bucks leave home briefly to take on the struggling Chicago Bulls in the Windy City this afternoon. The Bucks have won each of the three matchups this season, with this one wrapping up the season series. On its face, this game looks like a gimme for Milwaukee, but Chicago is on a huge losing streak and thus will probably come out with extra juice.

Where We’re At

After winning eight of 10, the Bucks were brought back down to earth in their last game against the Knicks, losing by nearly 30 points. Milwaukee’s

offence—which had been keeping them afloat—failed to fire against New York, leaving them dead in the water. They have been shooting the cover off the ball, with the highest effective field goal percentage in the NBA over the past 10 games, but they still need their defence to turn up—we’ll see if that happens today.

The Bulls… well, things have gone downhill fast (though that seems to be the goal). This team lost 11 straight games in February, the worst month in franchise history. The front office finally decided to bite the bullet and trade away franchise cornerstones Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu at the deadline for a bunch of seconds, hitting the eject button on this season in the process. How much higher will they be able to get in the lottery with so few games left? Probably not much, but hey, at least they’ve chosen a direction?

Injury Report

For the Bucks, Giannis (calf) and Taurean Prince (neck) are both out.

For the Bulls, the following players are out: Zach Collins, Noa Essengue, Jaden Ivey, Anfernee Simons, Jalen Smith, and Patrick Williams.

Player To Watch

After a mixed bag of games, I’m watching for what Ousmane Dieng can do today. Theoretically, this game should provide him a runway to explore more on offence than he’s been doing. In particular, I’m watching his free throw attempts. Dieng has taken a total of 10 free throws in eight games with the team. The criticism of him in OKC was that he didn’t play with enough force and aggression, and that hasn’t really changed with the Bucks—let’s hope it does today.