Chicago at Milwaukee

Chicago opened with a 135-92 loss at Toronto, and Milwaukee opened with a 128-116 loss at Washington. Both clubs are 0-1 under new head coaches, Tiago Splitter with the Bulls and Taylor Jenkins with the Bucks. Milwaukee's four arrivals in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade (Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis) have played one regular-season game together. The Bucks lost that game with a clean injury report and after letting a halftime lead go. Herro scored 24, and Jaquez added 22 in it, and it still ended in a 12-point loss. Chicago's opener looks worse than it was. Caleb Wilson shot 7 of 21 with nine turnovers in his debut, and Josh Giddey went 1 for 10 with a sprained left wrist. Giddey is listed as probable. Between them, they made 8 of 31 shots, and that is where most of the 43-point margin came from. Nic Claxton is out with a hamstring strain, so the Bulls play small again. I don't give Milwaukee credit for what it showed in Washington, and the price on the Bucks is built on the home opener more than on that game. The points follow the same two young ball-handlers. A Bulls lineup that gives the ball away nine times through one rookie ends possessions before they become shots. A Bucks group still sorting out who touches the ball is not built to run away from anyone. The 135 Chicago allowed is real, but it came against Toronto's pace and not against a Milwaukee team in its second game with this core. I'm on the Bulls with the points and the UNDER this afternoon.