The Milwaukee Bucks held off the Chicago Bulls 97-92 on Friday afternoon at Fiserv Forum, with Tyler Herro scoring 21 points in his first home game of the season back in the state where he grew up. The game tipped off earlier than usual, at 4:00 p.m. ET, because the arena schedule had to make way for the Brewers' World Series opener later that night.
The result lifted Milwaukee to 1-1 on the young season, while Chicago dropped to 0-2 under new head coach Tiago Splitter. Both teams had opened their schedules with lopsided losses just two days earlier, making this an early measuring-stick game for two rosters still figuring out their identities.
Herro's Homecoming Breaks Through
Milwaukee has a genuine offensive engine in Tyler Herro, who is averaging 24.0 points and 9.0 assists per game. On Friday he backed that up where it mattered most, going 7-for-14 from the field and 3-for-6 from three while finishing with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists in nearly 23 minutes of action.
The game carried extra meaning for the guard. Herro led Milwaukee with 24 points and nine assists in the opener, returning home to Wisconsin to lead the team he grew up watching. Friday's follow-up, in front of the home crowd at Fiserv Forum, doubled as his first true homecoming performance of the new campaign.
The win also mattered for a Bucks team still searching for consistency in the early going. New head coach Taylor Jenkins was looking for his first win after Milwaukee squandered a fourth-quarter lead in a loss to the Washington Wizards in the opener. Beating Chicago gave Jenkins that breakthrough.
A Costly Comedown for Buzelis and the Bulls
For Chicago, the story centered on a much quieter night from Matas Buzelis, the forward who had been the Bulls' best player just two days earlier. Buzelis finished with 6 points on 2-of-8 shooting, missing all three of his three-point attempts, to go with three rebounds and a team-worst minus-13 in just over 14 minutes.
That represented a sharp drop-off from his season debut. Chicago had entered Friday's matchup looking to rebound from a 135-92 loss to the Toronto Raptors in the opener, a game in which Matas Buzelis led the Bulls with 17 points while rookie Caleb Wilson contributed 16 points and four rebounds in his NBA debut.
Chicago's Rough Start Under Splitter
The Toronto blowout was already a sobering introduction to the NBA season for Splitter's group. Chicago struggled offensively throughout that game, committing 27 turnovers and shooting just 4-for-36 from three-point range. For Splitter, the drubbing was about more than just missed shots, pointing to deeper issues the new coaching staff needs to address.
Against Milwaukee, the Bulls showed more fight, closing within single digits by the fourth quarter after trailing by double digits at halftime, but it was not enough to avoid a second straight defeat to open the season.
What the Box Score Showed
Milwaukee's balanced scoring beyond Herro proved decisive. The Bucks shot better from the field and from beyond the arc than Chicago across the full game, and their stronger finish in the third quarter — outscoring the Bulls 35-31 in that frame — opened the gap that held up down the stretch. Chicago's top performers besides Buzelis included contributions from its starting frontcourt, but turnover trouble and cold shooting from distance again hampered the offense in a second consecutive game.
What Comes Next for Both Teams
The Bucks now look to build on their first win of the season as they continue adjusting to a roster and rotation reshaped by offseason changes, a transition that has already reshaped several Eastern Conference contenders this fall, including Miami's revamped frontcourt following Giannis's debut with the Heat.
For Chicago, the focus shifts to steadying an 0-2 start before the schedule gets tougher. Splitter will need Buzelis and the rest of the young core to find more consistency than they showed in either of the first two games, part of a broader opening stretch across the league that included high-profile moments like the Wembanyama-SGA rematch on opening night. Both the Bulls and Bucks will look to carry momentum, or find it, as the season moves into its second week.