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Boozer and Bulls take down Bucks

Jan 11, 2014 - 6:55 AM Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Carlos Boozer registered a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds to help the Chicago Bulls to an 81-72 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in what was an offensive struggle from the opening tip.

Mike Dunleavy tallied 18 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc, Taj Gibson netted 12 and Jimmy Butler added 10 points for Chicago, which won its eighth consecutive road game over Milwaukee for the first time in franchise history.

Joakim Noah had eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Bulls' fourth straight win overall.

Chicago shot 38.7 percent from the floor, but held Milwaukee to a meager 31.8 percent shooting.

O.J. Mayo scored a team-high 16 points, while Ersan Ilyasova and Luke Ridnour each posted 14 points in the loss, Milwaukee's fourth straight defeat.

Brandon Knight scored 12 points on 5-of-21 shooting and Miroslav Raduljica added 10 points as the Bucks fell to 3-14 at home.

Knight made a jumper with 5:09 left in the fourth to pull Milwaukee within one, 73-72. From that point, the Bucks went 0-for-11 from the field down the stretch and were held scoreless by Chicago's stingy defensive unit.

Dunleavy quickly answered Knight's jumper with one of his own, then scored on a layup and a pair of free throws to increase the Chicago advantage to 79-72 with 1:16 to play.

Milwaukee shot 6-of-23 in the fourth quarter, but surprisingly shot better than the Bulls, who were 4-of-16.

"Going down the stretch you have to make plays and we did not make plays," said Bucks head coach Larry Drew. "We forced a couple shots down the stretch and it probably wasn't the best selection on some shots, but you have to make plays."

Ilyasova scored five points during a 10-1 spurt to open the game for Milwaukee. Dunleavy made Chicago's first bucket 5:13 into the contest and the Bulls trailed 12-5 in the early going.

The Bucks led by as many as 11 in the quarter and owned a 27-20 advantage heading to the second.

Dunleavy buried back-to-back 3s to cap a 13-1 charge midway through the second quarter and help Chicago to a 35-32 lead.

The Bulls brought a slim 47-45 lead into the locker room at the half and extended the margin to 69-59 heading into he fourth.

"We were just trying to contest shots -- trying to rebound and make them shoot over our hands, and it worked out," said Bulls forward Carlos Boozer.

Game Notes

John Henson missed his sixth straight game for the Bucks with a sprained left ankle ... Boozer returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sore right knee ... Chicago outscored Milwaukee 27-9 from the free-throw line ... The Bucks edged the Bulls 5-2 on the fastbreak ... The Bulls largest lead was 15 ... Each team committed 12 turnovers.