Chicago ? Kirk Hinrich and the Bulls are starting to play in a relaxed fashion, and it’s resulting in victories.
Hinrich scored nine of his 28 points in a 15-0 run, and the Chicago Bulls beat the slump-ridden Milwaukee Bucks 85-77 Thursday night to win consecutively for the first time this season. The Bulls beat the Grizzlies 96-88 in Memphis on Wednesday night.
Eddy Curry added 18 points for the Bulls, who won for the fourth time in six games.
“Earlier in the year, we were up tight and we weren’t playing with very much confidence and it’s almost like the exact opposite now,” Hinrich said. “We are starting to get confident as a team. Our morale is lot better.”
Michael Redd had 22 points for Milwaukee, which lost its third straight game and 13th of 16 overall. The Bucks are 1-9 on the road.
“We just didn’t get it going tonight,” Milwaukee coach Terry Porter said. “We couldn’t hit anything and their defense was blocking a lot of shots.”
Redd hit a jumper to put the Bucks ahead 63-61 with 10:08 left, but the Bulls responded with the decisive run. Hinrich hit a jumper to tie the score at 63 and Curry had a dunk over Zaza Pachulia, giving Chicago a 73-63 lead with 6:40 left.
Hinrich hit a 3 the next time down. The Bucks didn’t get their next basket until Joe Smith scored with 5:02 remaining.
“They looked like they had more energy in the fourth quarter and that shouldn’t have happened,” Redd said. “We had no offense. All in all, it was a struggle all night.”
Tyson Chandler tied a career high with seven blocked shots to go with 6 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago, 6-6 since starting the season 0-9.
“I feel like I could have been a little more aggressive on the offensive end, but I felt it was a good overall game,” Chandler said. “I rebounded the ball well, and had a few blocks out there.”
Desmond Mason added 15 points for Milwaukee, and Smith had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Notes: Before the game, the Bucks placed guard Erick Strickland on the injured list with a torn knee cartilage. He will miss at least two weeks. Strickland has appeared in 16 games for the Bucks and is averaging 4.3 points, two rebounds and 2.2 assists. … Bucks guard Maurice Williams had a bruised lower back, but stayed in the game. … The Bulls had not won back-to-back games since March 31 and April 2 last season. … Milwaukee has lost 30 of its last 36 games at the United Center.
