Chicago Bulls vs Milwaukee Bucks Prediction: Wayward Bulls meet the Bucks that are struggling on road

Now that the Christmas festivities are way past us, we will head into the brand new year of the NBA in a few days. The fact that the league that has been going on since mid-October with non-stop action is still not even going to be halfway through the New Year tells us the tenuous nature of the league. In another grind-out affair, the Chicago Bulls are going to host the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bulls enter the fray after suffering a rather embarrassing 118:133 loss against the Rockets despite a 31 points outburst by DeMar DeRozan. This untimely loss curbed a three-game winning streak, which was away from home and against tough teams. Losing to a team like the Rockets which has lost 70% of their games at home must sting especially for a team that has Playoff aspirations and has lost 19 of their 33 games.

This has been another tough season for the Bulls and after they started the last season with a bang, things have gone downhill since the injury to Lonzo Ball. Their defensive metrics are right in place but their offense has been completely downhill, especially from deep and that is because they lack consistency at the Point Guard and Big Forward positions. At this point, it will not be a surprise if we see a bunch of trades here.

The Bucks come into this affair after losing 118:139 against the Celtics despite a 27 points performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee has lost three in a row away from home against East contenders such as the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Nets. The Bucks now have 22 wins and 11 losses, which is a bit of a downturn considering the team started with a nine-game winning streak. The team defense has been struggling a bit lately after being one of the best to start the season.

Giannis has continued to carry the major load but the Forward depth has been a bit hit with Khris Middleton playing just seven games thus far. Jrue Holiday has yet another solid season but overall, the Bucks have been outside of the top fifteen squads in terms of offensive efficiency. Defensively, the Bucks are one of the top teams but they lack the offensive rhythm these days.

• Bulls: OUT: Lonzo Ball. DOUBTFUL: Derrick Jones Jr. QUESTIONABLE: Alex Caruso, JaVonte Green;
• Bucks: OUT: Khris Middleton. PROBABLE: Jrue Holiday.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Giannis Antetokounmpo(28-35 Points), DeMar DeRozan(24-29 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Giannis Antetokounmpo(11-14 Rebounds), Nikola Vucevic(10-12 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Jrue Holiday(7-9 Assists), DeMar DeRozan(5-8 Assists).

The Bucks have been struggling away from home but they will run into a Bulls squad that has been not that effective at home. Both teams haven’t been doing well offensively so we may be in for a low-scorer. Despite their recent downturn, the Bucks will come in with a ton of confidence against a team of Bulls’ stature That is why I predict a Bucks win here. I predict a scoreline of 116:111 in favor of the Bucks.