MILWAUKEE — The Bucks can run with the Bulls.
The teams entered their pool-play game Friday in the NBA Cup sprinting at about the same pace this season.
The Bucks can score with the Bulls.
The Bulls entered the game seventh in the league at 120.4 points per game, with the Bucks a tick behind at 119.9.
The difference between the two? One has perennial MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Thanks to Antetokounmpo and his season-high 41 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, the Bucks handed the Bulls (6-2) their second loss of the season and dropped them to 1-1 in Cup play with a 126-110 victory. Nineteen of his points came in the fourth quarter.
‘‘He’s just a handful with the way he plays,’’ Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said of Antetokounmpo afterward. ‘‘I’ve got great respect for his motor, intensity and the way he competes, but you’re going to have to, at a certain point, match force with force. He without question in the fourth quarter overwhelmed us.’’
And it wasn’t just one Bulls player who felt it. Isaac Okoro started off on Antetokounmpo and quickly got into foul trouble, leading to a series of Bulls big men getting a crack at him.
‘‘He just started going at us one-on-one, and when he sees space, he’s going to attack it,’’ Okoro said.
Antetokounmpo’s performance, however, didn’t shake Okoro confidence.
‘‘I’m comfortable guarding anyone,’’ he said. ‘‘I love guarding the best players in this league. But at the end of the day, it’s not just on me. It’s team defense.’’
That meant Nikola Vucevic and Matas Buzelis also being assigned to guard the ‘‘Greek Freak’’ — with mixed results.
Call it the further education of Buzelis. Sometimes that means a one-way bus trip to the school of hard knocks.
That was evident several times when Buzelis was matched up against Antetokounmpo in the second half.
With just more than six minutes left in the third quarter, Antetokounmpo faced up on Buzelis with the ball in his hands, simply shoved him to the right and strolled right down the lane for a nasty two-handed dunk.
The two had a close encounter again in the fourth quarter, this time with Antetokounmpo posting Buzelis up, getting the ball thrown to him and with two twists of his body delivering another highlight dunk. That one gave the Bucks a 101-95 lead with 6:45 left.
What Donovan appreciates about Buzelis makeup, however, is his short-term memory. Rather than sulking after those kinds of moments, he fights back. He did that again Friday, going right back down the court and making his second three-pointer of the game.
‘‘There’s been moments where he has a lot to learn, so to speak,’’ Donovan said of Buzelis, who is in his second season. ‘‘I think the defensive assignments, when he gets his length and keeps himself between his man and the basket, he’s been good. I think the consistency of that is something he’s working through.
‘‘Where he was a year ago today to where he is now is night and day. My hope is with the way he works and that mentality, that growth will continue.’’
Buzelis did take steps against Antetokounmpo, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds. But there’s a big difference between a high-ceiling player still developing and one of the greatest players in the world.
‘‘These are situations and moments for [Buzelis] that he’s never been exposed to . . . so there’s going to be some ups and downs,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘There’s going to be some learning.’’
Some lessons are harder than others.