Despite the absence of Khris Middleton, the Milwaukee Bucks thrashed the Chicago Bulls on the defensive end of the floor and showed greater offensive flow in their 111-81 victory against the Bulls. They currently have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Bucks jumped out to a 33-17 lead early in the game because to their superior intensity on both ends of the floor, as they nailed triples from deep and provided challenges on all but Vucevic’s attempts. In the second quarter, they maintained the same defensive presence and continued to shoot well, building a 60-41 halftime lead. The Bucks were able to stop the Bulls to just 18 points in the third quarter as they established a 90-59 advantage. With more than six minutes to go, Bud was able to bring the backups in and let the starters to get some more rest before Sunday’s early tip.
Points in the Paint
Defensive ferocity is up from the get-go. When it came to rotations and competitions both inside and outside of the arc, Chicago’s players were hindered from getting to their areas with ease, and this was evident from the onset. From the outset, they used a defensive similar to James Harden’s inverted James Harden defence, where Wes Matthews shaded DeMar DeRozaon continually to his left and prevented him from using his right hand to weave through traffic. Bulls shot 36.8 percent overall through two quarters and held him to eight shots in the first half. Only nine of his tries were successful. After disrupting Chicago’s flow by putting DeRozan off-kilter, blocking as many driving lanes, and limiting the Bulls to just eight free throw attempts in the competitive period, they didn’t let up all night long. This Bucks defence, which limited them to an offensive rating of 84.6, was exactly what we were expecting from them throughout the series.
Khris Middleton was benched for Bobby Portis, who received the start. Bigball from Bud sparked a 19-9 lead for Milwaukee. Aside from increasing the Bucks’ chances of getting offensive rebounds with some bat-outs, he also provided another knockout threat from the perimeter while wearing his rec glasses. With Portis, the Bucks have a chance to mismatch either Bobby or Giannis on practically every possession against a smaller Bulls squad. A career-high 18 points and 16 rebounds were his final tally of the night.
In the end, Grayson Allen found his footing in life. Milwaukee was eager to see some of the scoring punch he had during the season after a disappointing start to the season with just three points in the first two games. With a couple early triples dropping and then driving for a finish and kicking out the boundary in the third game, he finally exploded. It’s a tribute to Allen that he was able to pull this off in Chicago, even if the audience appeared less interested in razzing him this time. Without Middleton, Milwaukee needs its role players to stand up. He scored 22 points in the playoffs, the most of his career.
Bits of extra cash
- When DeMar DeRozan had Grayson Allen in the offensive halfcourt, he attacked him. Getting the ball to DeRozan swiftly and allowing him to attack immediately was an admirable feat. Fortunately, he made up for it in the second half with a spectacular block of Patrick Williams.
- Even so, Allen had a good start offensively with three triples and a steal of Caruso while driving to the basket. After the eerily quiet nights of Games 1 and 2, it was a wonderful change.
- After a baseline fadeaway, Giannis sprinted past Vucevic to score an easy slam near the basket in the first quarter of this game. And yet, he managed to score 18 points, grab seven rebounds, and dish out nine assists on only 12 shots.
- At the risk of seeming judgemental, I believed Giannis was unfairly singled out for two early offensive fouls. However, even though the third one seemed to be more authentic,
- It was refreshing to see the Bulls commit some careless turnovers, tossing the ball to no one in particular or just bouncing it off their knees when the opportunity arose.
- We’ve seen a lot of Jrue Holiday this series, but this time he appeared more controlled on the court, averaging 16 points, zero turnovers, and six assists, and he seemed to be more focused defensively than we’ve seen him thus far.
- However, despite his poor play from three attempts, Pat Connaughton is set to face off!
- This was the first time we saw Luca Vildoza! In addition to the in-rhythm pass to Serge Ibaka, he also provided us a behind the back pass to Thanasis that resulted in this amazing dunk.