Bucks 95, Bulls 91: Michael Carter-Williams scored 15 of his 21 points in the second quarter and grabbed 10 rebounds as host Milwaukee picked up a big win.

Ersan Ilyasova tallied 16 points and Khris Middleton added 14 - seven in the fourth quarter - for the Bucks, who pulled 2 1/2 games ahead of Miami and Brooklyn in the race for the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. O.J. Mayo made three 3-pointers en route to 13 points and both Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Henson had 11 apiece as Milwaukee snapped a nine-game home losing streak versus Chicago.

Jimmy Butler finished with 25 points and Pau Gasol recorded his 49th double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who fell into a tie with Toronto for third place in the East. Taj Gibson added 12 points in a reserve role for Chicago, which missed all 11 of its 3-point tries in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls raced to an early 20-11 lead before settling for a five-point advantage after one quarter, and Carter-Williams made 7-of-11 shots in the second to help the hosts tie it at 48 heading into the break. Chicago withstood Milwaukee's 10-1 surge early in the third and went ahead 69-67 on Gasol's three-point play late in the period.

It was a 74-70 lead entering the fourth for the Bulls, who led by three before Middleton got hot with seven points in a short span and Mayo knocked down a jumper to put the Bucks up 92-88 with under three minutes left. After a block by Antetokounmpo, Ilyasova tipped in a miss for a 94-91 lead with a minute to go and Chicago missed three 3-pointers in the closing seconds before Antetokounmpo hit one free throw to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Bucks SF Jared Dudley had one point in 17 minutes after sitting out the previous game with back issues. ... Mayo and head coach Jason Kidd received technical fouls 21 seconds apart in the second quarter and PG Jerryd Bayless got one in the third after arguing that Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau had gotten in his way when he tried to grab a loose ball. ... Chicago PG Kirk Hinrich departed in the second half with a left knee injury and did not return.