Bucks Fall to Bulls in NBA Summer League Opener on Saturday

The Milwaukee Bucks started NBA Summer League play on Saturday in Las Vegas, but lost to the Chicago Bulls 96-89. MarJon Beauchamp led the way with 22 points.

Milwaukee Bucks forward MarJon Beauchamp scored 22 points on Saturday in an NBA Summer League loss to the Chicago Bulls. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — MarJon Beauchamp scored 22 points, but the Milwaukee Bucks ran out of gas in the second half and lost to the Chicago Bulls 96-89 on Saturday in their first NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas.

Beauchamp, the Bucks' first-round pick in 2022 who is playing in his third summer league, was 7-for-18 from the field, and made just 2-of-7 three-pointers. The Bucks were just 11-for-39 from three as a team, good for only 28.2 percent.

"I thought the guys competed, but they kind of let the frustration of the game get to them a little bit,'' Bucks Summer League coach Pete Dominguez said. "We weren't making shots, especially early on, and we let our frustrations get in our way in regards to executing and what we've been working on in training camp. Fortunately, we have another game (on Sunday) and we'll be better.''

Beauchamp has played sparingly during his first two seasons with the Bucks after being a first-round pick in 2022. He has averaged 4.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game, shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from behind the 3-point line. All 22 of his points came in the first three quarters.

"I thought he was aggressive, and we did a good job of putting him in position to be aggressive,'' Dominquez said. "He was looking to be aggressive, but he kind of cramped up at the end. That's my fault. We went live after a travel day and he was a big part of our scrimmage. We kind of lost our legs a little bit, and that's on me.''

The Bucks are right back at it, playing again on Sunday. They'll take on the Cleveland Cavailiers in the first game of the day, starting at 2:30 p.m. CT. They also play on Tuesday (Los Angeles Clippers) and Friday (Phoenix Suns). The full NBA Summer League schedule, with game times and TV information, is below.

"We had seven days together so far, and had six practices, which is a lot. When you're trying to teach both sides of the ball, it's a long. But this game film, and breaking it down with the video guys tonight, you can really see guys start to take some steps. We'll apply some of that at breakfast in the morning, and be ready to go.''

Complete NBA Summer League Schedule

• SUMMER LEAGUE SCHEDULE, RESULTS: Here is the complete scheduly for the 2024 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which runs from July 12-22. Bookmark this file, as we update the results in real time live from Las Vegas. CLICK HERE