CHICAGO – No superstars, no problem for the Milwaukee Bucks as they won their second straight game without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, beating the Chicago Bulls 112-91 at the United Center on Monday night.

“It just tells you where we are now and where we were,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “I mean, early in the year we wouldn’t have won either game. Now we’re not only winning games, we’re winning with a cushion. I thought defensively tonight it was maybe one of our best defensive efforts.”

The championship core of Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis Jr. helped the Bucks take early control of the game and never relinquish it, while Gary Trent Jr. scored 14 off the bench and fellow guards Andre Jackson Jr., Ryan Rollins, AJ Green and Delon Wright combined to score 31 points and pull down 16 rebounds.

Bucks score:Bucks 112, Bulls 91

Rivers ticked off all of those guards by name in his postgame review, noting how they kept Chicago’s perimeter players from getting into the paint and kicking out for quality three-point attempts. Milwaukee’s backcourt combinations also did a solid job defensively on Bulls all-star guard Zach LaVine, who finished with 14 points on 5 of 13 shooting, and Coby White who had 10 points on 4 of 11 shooting.

“Everybody that would guard those guys, they stepped up and made it tough on them,” Wright said of the effort on the two Chicago shooters. “Our bigs did a good job of helping, also. That’s a major part of stopping some of these dynamic guards, is having a good defensive pressure and also bigs helping you deter them from attacking the basket.”

Center Nikola Vučević led Chicago with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Smith had 14 off the bench for the Bulls.

Portis has his second straight double-double

filling in for Antetokounmpo, scoring 19 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. He also continued his playmaking touch with six assists. Lopez and Middleton scored 21 points each as all nine rotation players scored.

“I love it, I love it, just because everybody works hard,” Middleton said of the balanced effort in replacing Antetokounmpo and Lillard. “They sacrifice so much when our main guys are out there doing what they do to complement them. But when those guys are out they get a chance to kind of prove what they had been working on, playing the game right way. They know they’re going to get a little bit more opportunities, a little bit more touches and we all know that, so it’s not selfishly saying, ‘I’m going to have a night tonight.’ We’re all trying to figure out how to help each other out.”

Defensive rebounding was key for Milwaukee, as Chicago shot just 41% overall (34-for-83) and 29.9% (9-for-43) from behind the three-point line while the regulars were in the game. The Bulls ended up with nine offensive rebounds for 13 second-chance points before the benches were emptied, but some of those missed shots were going to find their hands just by the sheer number of chance they had to snag some.

“They do crash the glass, they try to turn you over – we didn’t do either one of those things,” Rivers said. “Our guards rebounded their butts off tonight. They rebounded well last game. Then offensively we’re just really spreading the ball. Khris, Delon, I thought maybe his best game of the year. I thought he contributed the entire game for us tonight. Very happy for him.”

Milwaukee won for the fifth time in its last six games and improved to 16-12 while Chicago dropped to 13-16.

Khris Middleton shows all-star form

After rough start (1-for-4), Middleton looked every bit like a three-time all-star in the second quarter when he went 4-for-5 from the floor, including two rhythm pull-up three-pointers in a personal 10-0 run that pushed a 10-point Bucks lead to 49-29.

For his part, Middleton was reluctant to say it’s the best he’s felt because he wants to continue to get better but he did say, “It felt good. I just wanted to be aggressive. With Dame and Giannis out there’s going to be a lot more opportunity for me right now. Just trying to take advantage of it the right way.”

A little over a minute after his second three-pointer Middleton assisted on a Brook Lopez triple to account for 13 Bucks points in less than three minutes of game action.

“Sometimes in the sports world it’s always a ‘what have you done for me lately’ type of thing and that’s the type of world we kind of (live in); it sucks ’cause as a player we put so much time and we put so much work in and we kind of get shortcutted just because of one game or one performance or because of a stretch of games where you might not look to par, but he ‘Him’ though,” Portis said of Middleton’s play. “That’s all I really can say. Post fade, making the right reads, shooting the ball with confidence, the leadership he brings. I could keep going on and on about him. One of my favorite players to play with. Makes the game easier for me out there. When he on the court I don’t get doubled as much. So, it’s fun.”

Middleton came out firing in the second half, also, knocking down a 20-footer and then another pull-up three to have 17 points in just 14 minutes of play.

The 33-year-old forward backed up his season-best 18-point performance on Saturday against Washington with a 21-point showing in Chicago, making 9 of his 15 shots. He also had five rebounds and handed out five assists.

Middleton is still playing under a minute restriction however, as he once again was limited to 23:22 – though it was apparent he could’ve gotten to around 25 to seal the game if needed.

“These minutes have been fantastic for him,” Rivers said. “To keep him under 25 in the last two games when we have Dame and Giannis out, and still keep Khris under 25, that’s huge for us.”

Bulls shooting goes ice cold

Chicago changed its identity this season by electing to put up three-pointers at an increased rate, and the Bulls came into the game averaging the second-most three-point attempts in the league at 43.9. They have been making them, too, at a 37.7% clip that was good for eighth in the NBA.

But they nearly shot themselves out of the game in the opening 24 minutes on Monday, going just 6-for-28 (21.4%) in the first half – including one stretch where they missed nine straight from the 7:36 mark of the first quarter to the 10:28 mark of the second. They also went 0-for-6 from the floor overall after taking an 11-8 lead, watching the Bucks take the lead for good with a 12-0 run that gave Milwaukee a 20-11 advantage.

The Bucks would lead by as many as 23 in the first half and even though Chicago had an 11-3 run late in the first half to trim the deficit to 10 and a 10-0 run in the middle of the third quarter that cut the Milwaukee lead to eight, it never really felt like the Bucks were ever in danger of losing control of the game.

Did you notice?

With 8:13 to go in the third quarter, Bulls guard Zach LaVine – a past slam dunk contest participant – got out on a fast break with Bucks guard Ryan Rollins in pursuit. But LaVine slowed down to get his body into Rollins, and then put down a rather unspectacular dunk. But it was a sign of respect for Rollins, who about three minutes prior had chased down Ayo Dosunmu and blocked the Bulls’ guard dunk attempt. LaVine had followed that play and got the offensive rebound and easy putback, but clearly he remembered that Rollins wouldn’t be one to give up anything easy in the open court.

5 numbers

• 2: Games this season featuring the starting lineup of Ryan Rollins, Andre Jackson Jr., Taurean Prince, Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez. It is the ninth starting lineup the team has used this season.
• 4-2: Bucks record without Damian Lillard this season.
• 5-2: Bucks record when Khris Middleton plays this season.
• 5-8: Bucks road record this season.
• 29: Games left in which point guard Ryan Rollins can be active for after he played 22 minutes against the Bulls on Monday night. The Bucks have 54 regular season games remaining. Rollins is currently a two-way player, and players signed to those deals can only be active for 50 games in a season. Rollins played in his 14th game against the Bulls, but it was his 21st listed on the active roster.Rollins would be eligible to play in more games should his contract be converted to a fully guaranteed deal, but to do that the Bucks must clear at least one roster spot.Bucks coach Doc Rivers: “Listen, we’re going to play who needs to play and if at some point we need to make a change we will. If he proves that. This is a competition always. And if not we’ll try to save as many days as we can.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo ruled out with back spasms

The Bucks’ MVP candidate missed his second straight game with back spasms. He began the day as questionable to play against Chicago, but after participating in the team’s shootaround at the United Center he was ruled out.

“He didn’t have to go through (shootaround), he just had to feel better and he didn’t so we just sat him down,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said.

What is the Bucks record without Giannis?

The Bucks are 3-1 this season in games Antetokounmpo has not played after the win in Chicago.

More:Analysis: A look at how the Milwaukee Bucks found their identity

Damian Lillard ruled out with illness

The all-star point guard began the day as doubtful to play with a right calf strain suffered in the Bucks’ Emirates NBA Cup run Las Vegas, but he was not visible at shootaround and was ruled out shortly thereafter. His injury designation was changed to being out with a non-COVID illness later in the day. This will be the second straight game he has missed, but the first with an illness.

“He’s doing much better,” Rivers said of Lillard’s calf injury. “I expect him to possibly be ready (Dec. 26), but then he gets sick.”

Bucks injury report

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, out (back spasms)
• Damian Lillard, out (non-COVID illness)
• AJ Johnson, out (non-COVID illness)
• Chris Livingston, out (non-COVID illness)

Bucks starting lineup

• Guards: Ryan Rollins, Andre Jackson Jr.
• Forwards: Khris Middleton, Bobby Portis
• Center: Brook Lopez

What channel are the Bucks on?

The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

Bucks vs. Bulls odds, over/under

Milwaukee is a 1.5-point favorite over Chicago, with the over/under at 231.5 points, per BetMGM.