Bobby Portis had a career-high 27 points (13 in the fourth quarter) and 12 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 115-109 for their fifth straight win.
Portis’ 2 free throws put the Bulls ahead for good with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bucks got within 109-107 on Khris Middleton’s 3 free throws with 1:24 to play, but Nikola Mirotic answered with a three-point play, and the Bucks got no closer than 113-109.
Mirotic’s 2 free throws with 7.6 seconds left made it 115-109 and put it away.
During clutch time, the Bulls outscored the Bucks 17-8. Mirotic scored 9 of the Bulls’ 17 on 2 for 4 shooting and 4 for 4 at the line.
Mirotic had 22 points and 8 rebounds.
For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points (18 in the paint) and 16 rebounds, and Middleton added 29 points, 6 assists and 4 steals.
The Bulls grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to the Bucks’ 9 and outscored them 48-25 off the bench. The Bucks forced 12 turnovers, about 5 fewer than usual for this many possessions. They did not make a field goal in the last 3:10. The Bulls outscored the Bucks 22-7 in 5 minutes with Lopez, Holiday, Portis, Dunn and Nwaba on the floor together. Kris Dunn fouled out.