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Jan 5, 2016 - 7:19 AM A knee injury cost Jabari Parker his chance to play in his hometown as a rookie and a second matchup versus another Chicago schoolboy legend, Derrick Rose.

It's now the Bulls point guard who is dealing with an injury as Chicago seeks a season-high fifth consecutive victory Tuesday night when it hosts the Milwaukee Bucks.

Parker, the No. 2 overall pick in 2014, tore his left ACL on Dec. 15, missing the last three games between the teams - and a pair of trips down Interstate 94 to the United Center.

Parker did face Rose and the Bulls in Milwaukee, scoring eight points on 4-of-12 shooting in a 95-86 loss Nov. 5, 2014. Rose had 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting in the matchup of former Simeon Academy standouts.

The oft-injured Rose has sat out the past three games because of tendinitis in his right hamstring, and an MRI showed no structural damage in either his hamstring or knee. He's considered a game-time decision.

"The hamstring feels a lot better and the swelling in the knee has gone down," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He just had a little bit of soreness, weakness in it before (Sunday's game in Toronto) so we took a cautious approach with it."

Jimmy Butler had a record-breaking performance in Rose's absence, scoring 40 of his 42 points in the second half of a 115-113 victory. That topped Michael Jordan's 39 in the second half in a 117-116 win over Milwaukee on Feb. 16, 1989.

"I'm just happy we won, to tell you the truth. I don't want to be compared to (Jordan)," said Butler, who finished one point off his career high set in a quadruple-overtime loss to Detroit on Dec. 18.

"I'm just happy we got the win, points or no points."

The Bulls (20-12) are seeking their seventh victory in the past eight regular-season matchups with their Central Division rivals. Chicago is facing Milwaukee (14-22) for the first time since winning last year's opening-round playoff series, capped by its 120-66 beatdown of the Bucks - their worst postseason loss in franchise history - in Game 6 at the Bradley Center.

The Bucks need a few more wins to get into playoff position in the suddenly competitive Eastern Conference. Nine teams are currently above .500 compared with five at the end of last season.

Milwaukee came up well short of a third consecutive victory Monday with a 123-98 drubbing by visiting San Antonio.

Milwaukee has won its past two road games after dropping 14 of 15 but has lost in five of its last six visits to Chicago, including the playoffs. The Bulls are 14-5 at home and have won three straight.

The Bucks might not have Jerryd Bayless because of a left ankle injury suffered in Monday's loss. He missed 11 games last month with the same ailment.

"I don't know his full status. We'll obviously learn more tonight and (Monday)," interim coach Joe Prunty said. "We've been through it before. It's always been a next-man-up mentality and that won't change. Everybody's got to be prepared."

Butler is averaging 24.9 points in his last seven games against Milwaukee, including last year's playoff series. Pau Gasol had a streak of nine double-doubles versus the Bucks snapped in the Game 6 victory.

Among those performances was a career-high 46 points and 18 rebounds in a 95-87 win at the United Center on Jan. 10.