Chicago, Illinois —– With a chance to tie up the series, the Milwaukee Bucks lost their second straight as the Chicago Bulls slid past the Bucks 91-82. Everything fans wanted in a “cross-town” rivalry they got from physical contact to a close knit game until the end. The Bucks kept true to their defensive nature in the first half. They held the Bulls to 11 points to end the first quarter and the Bulls were shooting 23%. However, despite holding great defense, the Bucks had no offense either, shooting 25% (6 for 24) from the field and 3 of their 5 starters were scoreless in the first quarter despite playing roughly 23 minutes combined. Carter-Williams, Pachulia, and Ilyasova ended the first quarter shooting shooting a combined 0/6 from the field. Coach Jason Kidd was satisfied on the way he team played defense in the first quarter.
“I thought the game was {going} like we wanted especially in the first quarter. It was not pretty and both teams might say it was not defense but was at our pace: ugly and slow” said Coach Kidd
An ugly and slow game would continue for the Bucks to end the first half. The Bulls began to heat up, leading the Bucks at halftime 28-22. The Bulls would end the half shooting 58% from the field and Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 10 points to end the half. The only offense from the Bucks came from guard Khris Middleton with 12 points in the first half. He and Michael Carter-Williams were the only Bucks player in double digits as Middleton finished with 22, while MCW finished with 12. Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 17 at the half on his way to a 31 point and nine rebound outing. Derrick Rose had an off night up until this point, shooting a cold 0/7 from the field in the first half, despite playing almost 20 minutes. Rose ended the game with 15 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists.
The second half went Chicago’s way and the Bucks started to lose their defensive identity as they allowed the Bulls to score 32 points in the third quarter. Derrick Rose picked up 12 points in the 3rd, shooting 3 for 5 from the field and 2 for 3 from downtown. Kidd mentioned the breakdown the Bucks had in the 3rd quarter.
“They came out at halftime and we gave up 32 in the third quarter. That second half was not our style game.” said Coach Kidd
However, scoring woes weren’t the only problems for the Bucks they were out-rebounded 64-48, led by Joakim Noah with 19 rebounds followed by Pau Gasol with 16.
“Yes, It was 64-48 but I thought we did a better job especially with the offensive rebounding. You just got to make shots. We shot 35% for the game and you have to do a better job than that. Giannis had some great looks, it was just some of them didn’t go down.” said Coach Kidd
The Bulls only led the Bucks 71-68 going into the fourth quarter, but ultimately Chicago would pull away and win this game. The Bulls outscored Milwaukee 20-14 in the 4th as shooting woes continued for the Bucks, who ended the 4th quarter shooting 21%. Giannis Antetokounmp was scoreless in the 4th quarter despite playing 12 minutes.
With all the physical defense being played in a playoff atmosphere, things on the court got testy at times. Zaza Pachulia elbowed Nikola Mirotic in the head. Moments later the two would scramble for the ball which lead to more pushing and shoving and Pachilia was ejected from the game. Jimmy Butler stated he liked how Mirotic is handling the physicalness in the playoffs considering he’s a rookie.
Earlier in the game Aaron Brooks was called for a common foul and ended up on the floor with John Henson standing over him and then Butler and Noah came over to defend their teammate and pushing and shoving began, ending with four players being hit with technical fouls; Henson, OJ Mayo, Noah and Butler.
“It’s playoff basketball. You have the same teams going at it. Alot of it is will, determination, how bad do you want it. It is sort of the nature of the game,” said Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau “. It is an emotional game. I want us to play with a lot of toughness. But I also want us to play smart. So where do you stop? You stop right before it becomes physical. I don’t want anyone thrown out. I don’t want any of that stuff. I dont want to take our emotion away from us either. I want us to play with intelligence and play together. Controlling themselves is important.”
Coach Kidd mimiced some of the same things Coach Thibodeau said.
“It’s just guys playing in the playoffs. It’s going to be physical out there with guys competing like this. Both teams were playing that way.
Games 1 and 2 are in the books now as the Bulls lead the series 2-0. Milwaukee will return home and host the Bulls on Thursday night at 7pm.
“I feel like we’re getting better with each game and confidence is growing,”Coach Kidd stated
However, so is the lead the Bulls have in this series.