Chicago Bulls forward Dalen Terry reacts after sinking a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
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Three nights after Christmas, late in the fourth quarter, Bulls coach Billy Donovan found his heart filled with giddiness.

For most of the season, Donovan has kept Bulls newcomer Josh Giddey off the court during crunch time, due to a less-than-stellar reputation for defense.

On Saturday against Milwaukee, Donovan had a change of heart, sent Giddey back on the floor with three minutes left and the Australia native helped save a 116-111 victory over Milwaukee.

Giddey recorded his third triple-double of the season, finishing with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. He hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining and even stopped Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton a couple times late in the game, with some help.

Substituting Giddey probably wasn’t an independent decision by Donovan. Lonzo Ball had reached 20 minutes, his typical limit, and Ayo Dosunmu is sidelined by a calf strain.

“I think the feeling on the bench was that you’ve got (Damian) Lillard, shooting 3s, (Brook) Lopez shooting 3s,” Donovan said. “Middleton’s isolating, but they’re 2s. Josh has got length, so just trying not to foul him and trying to make him shoot over him was kind of what we hoped for. I thought Josh really competed and battled defensively.”

Bucks center Brook Lopez buried a 3-pointer to tie the score with 43 seconds left. Coby White came back to knock down the go-ahead 18-foot jumper, the Bulls forced a Middleton miss, Giddey grabbed the rebound and iced the game with a pair of free throws.

Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr., right, throws the ball over Chicago Bulls forward Dalen Terry (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
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White snapped out of a shooting slump by scoring 22 points, while center Nikola Vucevic added 23 points and 13 rebounds, Lillard led the Bucks with 29.

“We’re capable of beating anybody and we’ve obviously shown we can lose and have terrible games as well,” Bulls guard Zach LaVine said. “I think we did a good job of just coming back after a bad loss. We did everything right for three quarters (in Atlanta on Thursday), then just let the rope completely go. It feels good that everybody contributed to a win.”

It’s been a bizarre few weeks for the Bulls. They pulled off their best win of the season on Dec. 19, knocking off a full-strength Celtics squad in Boston. They couldn’t stop Jayson Tatum’s revenge two nights later at the United Center, but that loss was understandable.

Getting blown out at home last Monday by a Milwaukee team missing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard, that result made no sense at all. Neither did the fourth-quarter collapse in Atlanta on Thursday, where the Bulls stood back on defense and let the Hawks score 50 points in the final 12 minutes. Antetokounmpo was out again Saturday with an illness.

The Bulls head into the New Year with a couple basic questions: Will they ever be able to play successful defense? And somewhere in this deep rotation, is there a winning combination of players?

Giddey has been trending in the right direction, while rookie Matas Buzelis is by far the Bulls’ leader in net rating during the month of December. That can be a deceptive stat, since he’s coming off the bench and often not going against an opponent’s best players. But he’s also the Bulls’ best hope for defensive improvement and should be playing more than the 13 minutes he got in this game.

Donovan’s playing time decisions will continue to be a challenge. Giddey at least showed he can be trusted in late-game situations.

· Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu missed his second straight game due to a right lower calf strain. The team announced he will rest the injury and be reevaluated in 10 days.

The Bulls added a two-way player Saturday, signing Emanuel Miller. He’s a 6-7 forward from TCU who averaged 18.2 points and 8.4 rebounds this season for the G-League’s Texas Legends. The Bulls released D.J. Steward, who was averaging 19.9 points.

Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams goes up to sink a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
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