MILWAUKEE — It had all the makings of the varsity team running the JV squad straight out of the gym.
The Bulls’ Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Coby White had scheduled nights off, and Jalen Smith, Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu were sidelined with minor injuries.
So while coach Billy Donovan was starting Josh Giddey and a bunch of youngsters, the Bucks were rolling out Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez.
‘‘Fear the Deer,’’ as the slogan goes?
‘‘Yeah, I would think for anybody it would probably be, right?’’ Donovan said before the game when he was asked whether it had the makings of a ‘‘Welcome to the NBA’’ night for the Bulls’ youngsters.
The inevitable happened, as the Bucks won 111-107. But the ‘‘Fear the Deer’’ and the ‘‘Welcome to the NBA’’ stuff? Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis must have missed the memo. Or, more likely, he crumpled it up and threw it in the corner of the locker room.
As Buzelis has shown since the start of Summer League in July, he doesn’t scare easily. He doesn’t even flinch.
He drove and dunked on Antetokounmpo late in the first quarter, took a flagrant-1 foul from him, then initially blocked him late in the first half, only to be called for a foul on a putback attempt and protesting loudly to official James Capers.
Scared?
Nah, not Buzelis.
He eventually fouled out but not before scoring 15 points, making three three-pointers and finishing a plus-five in plus/minus. More important, he continued playing with an attitude that the Bulls sorely have lacked since trading Bobby Portis Jr. in the deal for Otto Porter Jr. in 2019.
‘‘I think that’s the best way he can possibly grow because he’s not afraid to go into something and fail, come up short and have to learn and grow,’’ Donovan said of Buzelis. ‘‘He almost takes the approach: ‘I’m young. I’m going to lean into this. I’m not afraid. Whatever happens, I’m going to learn something.’ ’’
That’s a good way to sum it up because Buzelis definitely was leaning into it and taking notes along the way.
‘‘I don’t know, I just think of it as another player,’’ Buzelis said of his matchup against Antetokounmpo. ‘‘I know who he is, of course. But when we step on the court, it’s zero-zero, so that’s how I think about it.
‘‘He’s a tough cover. He’s really strong, tall, athletic, does everything on the court. But I’m going to try my best out there and try and compete all the time.’’
It’s something that didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.
‘‘He’s not scared of anyone or any moment, and I think for a guy to come into the league like that, have that confidence, it’s huge for him,’’ Giddey said afterward. ‘‘It’s easy for rookies to be shy, not take on challenges, but credit to him.
‘‘[He’s a] very talented kid, and he’s going to have a helluva career in the NBA.’’
As for Giddey, he finished with 12 points and five assists. Donovan was asked why he didn’t give Giddey the game off, too, and said he needed the work.
‘‘With what happened there at the end of the Olympics [hurting his ankle], he really had almost eight weeks where he was just working out, hadn’t had a lot of playing,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘[It was] an opportunity to give him more time playing with these guys. For him, I do think it’s good for him to be out there.’’
