Milwaukee Hit 19 Threes and Still Lost. Chicago Made Them Pay for Everything Else.

Chicago went into Milwaukee two days after getting absolutely embarrassed by Toronto, and for one quarter it looked like the Bulls had brought that same mess with them. They scored 17 points in the first while Milwaukee put up 32. Then Chicago dropped 44 in the second. That's a 27-point swing in one quarter, and it tells you more about this game than pretending the Bulls controlled all 48 minutes.

The Bulls won 132–125 on October 23, 2026, but here's the part that should bother Milwaukee: the Bucks made 19 three-pointers, shot 50 percent from the floor and still lost at home. You don't get that kind of perimeter production every night. When you do, you cannot hand away the other possessions like they mean nothing.

Norman Powell led Chicago with 25, although his 7-for-20 shooting and 2-for-12 from three weren't exactly a masterclass in efficiency. Rookie Caleb Wilson gave them 21 on 7-for-14 shooting, Leonard Miller added 19, and Jalen Smith posted 14 points and 13 boards. Buddy Hield's 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting were the kind of clean bench contribution that helped make up for Powell's misses.

Play video

6IXTV · ORIGINAL EMBED

Tyler Herro had 34 for Milwaukee, including five threes, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. That's real production from two players who arrived in the deal that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami. But Jaquez also had six turnovers, and the Bucks finished with 19 as a team. Milwaukee was creating points and giving away possessions in the same damn breath.

Look at the foul line: Chicago went 28-for-30. Milwaukee went 14-for-26. That's fourteen more made free throws for the Bulls in a seven-point game. The Bucks also committed five more turnovers, 19 to 14. That's the answer when somebody asks how a team hits seven more threes than its opponent and still loses. The scoreboard doesn't reward style points.

Chicago didn't have the cleaner shooting night — 12-for-45 from deep is just 26.7 percent. But it won the possession battle where it counted, and it finished when Milwaukee's offense went quiet. The Bucks managed only 21 in the fourth after scoring 42 in the third. Chicago put up 30 in the final period and closed with a 14–4 run.

I actually respect the Bulls' response more than I respect the raw 132. After losing by 43 to Toronto in the opener, they could've folded when Milwaukee jumped out by 15 after one. Instead, they attacked, got to the line and found contributions from more than one guy. That's resilience you can point to without making up a championship narrative after two games.

For Milwaukee, this is an early identity problem. Herro can get buckets, Turner can protect the rim — he had five blocks — and Jaquez can do a little of everything. But none of that fixes careless ballhandling or missed free throws. If the Bucks want to be more than a collection of interesting names after the Giannis trade, they have to stop losing the basic math.

Next up, Chicago hosts Washington and Milwaukee goes to Philadelphia. I'm watching whether the Bulls can create offense without needing 30 free throws, and whether Milwaukee can get through a close fourth quarter without giving its opponent free points. One game doesn't define either team, but this was a very avoidable loss for the Bucks.