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  "path": "/2026/03/01/bulls-snap-11-game-skid-by-routing-bucks",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-02T00:41:01.297Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "textContent": "<p>With 7:19 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Bucks, Josh Giddey drove from the right and sent a lob pass up into the air for teammate Nick Richards. Richards grabbed the ball with one hand and slammed it down to give the <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/bulls\" >Bulls</a> a 16-point lead, igniting the announced crowd of 20,749.</p><p>The moment seemed to be cathartic for the Bulls, who snapped an 11-game losing streak with a 120-97 win over Milwaukee.</p><p>“I know it’s been frustrating for [the players], I know I’m in the locker room after a game and after a loss they feel like they’re working hard, they’re trying hard,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “I’ve never had a problem with their effort at all – it’s just been more [of] the turnovers, trying to learn a new system, new style, new teammates, all of that stuff.</p><p>“To see them stick with it for a whole month like this and to go through the struggles of that, I just appreciate the way they’ve stayed together and just continued to try to come back in each day to work to get better.”</p><p>Donovan insisted that he saw growth during the <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2026/02/26/bulls-good-night-lose-and-right-team-to-lose-to-in-portland\" >struggles of a winless February.</a> On Sunday, he also saw the Bulls put together a 27-0 run spanning the last 1:12 of the third quarter and first 5:59 of the fourth, turning what had been a 14-point deficit into a 13-point lead.</p><p>Giddey said he didn’t know how long the run was until he was told after the game.</p><p>“It felt good,” Giddey said. “It felt like we were making them take a lot of tough shots. NBA players are good, so they’re going to make tough shots but they went through a stretch where they couldn’t really hit anything.”</p><p>The run was part of a dominant second half when the Bulls held Milwaukee to only 31 points, including just eight in the fourth quarter.</p><p>“I’m proud of our guys,” said Matas Buzelis, who had 20 points and credited the Bulls’ attention to detail as a difference-maker Sunday. “We played really hard and we figured it out a little bit. I’m proud of everybody.”</p><p>Undoubtedly, the Bulls were aided by the continued absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who didn't play due to a right calf strain but sat on Milwaukee’s bench. The Bucks also helped the Bulls as Giddey said, shooting 36.8% from the floor.</p><p>Regardless of the reasons, the Bulls were glad to earn their first win since a Jan. 31 victory over Miami.</p><p>“Any time you go on a losing streak like that, every game becomes more and more desperate,” Giddey said. “You, as a group, want to try to snap that streak as quickly as you can. Obviously, it dragged out to 11, which none of us would have wanted.</p><p>The month of February saw a lot of events the Bulls would have wanted to avoid.</p><p>Out the door went Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. The Bulls went from a team playing for a spot in the play-in to one looking at next season and beyond, seemingly hoping to acquire as many second-round picks and guards as possible.</p><p>On the first day of March, Donovan is working with a group that’s vastly different from the one he led in late January. Donovan, his staff and the players are working to build chemistry on the fly on a team with two cornerstones and little else guaranteed to be in Chicago next season.</p><p>“It is what it is, so to speak,” Donovan said. “You’ve got to move forward.”</p><p>On Sunday, the group was able to move forward with a win.</p>",
  "title": "Bulls snap 11-game skid by routing Bucks",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-02T00:41:01.297Z"
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