Bulls collapse in second half, lose to Bucks in embarrassing fashion

MILWAUKEE — There were many possible fixes coming out of the Bulls’ awful offensive showing Wednesday in Boston.

Coach Fred Hoiberg wanted some toughness. Point guard Ryan Arcidiacono thought constant motion and making ‘‘the pass after the pass’’ would turn things around. Guard Zach LaVine thought the best solution would be simply to put the short-handed Bulls on his capable shoulders.

By the time the third quarter ended Friday at the Fiserv Forum, none of that mattered. The Bulls were broken on both ends of the floor, with no relief in sight.

After opening a 22-point lead in the first half, the Bulls were outscored by a franchise-record 37 points in the second in a 123-104 loss to the Bucks.

‘‘Yeah, we played really good [in the first half], but we can’t get too high on that,’’ LaVine said, referring to the embarrassing second half. ‘‘We’re not good enough to just ride that wave right now, so whatever we’ve got to do, we’ve got to fix the droughts. But it’s unacceptable for us to go out there, have a 20-point lead and blow it that fast. I think it’s upsetting.’’

It was more than that, especially because of the ease with which the Bucks started scoring in the third quarter.

The Bulls watched an 18-point halftime lead vanish in the third, with the Bucks outscoring them 46-17. It was among the worst 12 minutes the Bulls have played this season.

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The swing was almost mind-boggling, especially considering how well the Bulls (4-12) played in the first half. They scored 40 points on 16-for-26 shooting, including 7-for-11 from three-point range, in the first quarter. The ball was moving, as evidenced by their 10 assists, and their defense was solid.

It was more of the same in the second quarter. The Bulls held the Bucks to 18 points and led 63-45 at the half behind 18 points on 6-for-6 shooting from three-point range by Justin Holiday.

Then the third quarter happened.

‘‘Our first half was the best we’ve played all year and the best 24 minutes we put together,’’ Hoiberg said. ‘‘We’ve had great first quarters. We’ve gotten off to good starts. We were doing everything right.

‘‘Second half was obviously a complete turn. Those shots that were going in the first half stopped going down, we lost them in transition and then we’d come down and try and get it all back. We stopped doing the things that made us successful.’’

Not only did the Bucks score 46 points and shoot 7-for-13 from three-point range in the third quarter, but the Bulls went ice-cold, shooting 1-for-10 from long range and falling apart defensively.

‘‘It just sucks, man,’’ LaVine said of the collapse. ‘‘We’re not getting matched up on defense. We’re making mental errors. If the ball is not going in the hoop, we’ve still gotta play defense and be tough at the same time, have the energy and mentality that we had when we were making shots. You’re not going to make every shot, but you can still have that energy and that effort.’’