A wild back and forth game that came down to the wire ended in heartbreak for the Chicago Bulls, dropping Game 1 of their opening round series to the Milwaukee Bucks 93-86 Sunday night.
From an offensive perspective, the Bulls have had many better nights on the hardcourt as they finished 31-of-96 from the field, good for just 32.3%, as they closed the game with just 15 fourth quarter points. The pains stemmed from Chicago’s big three of DeMar Derozan, Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine who shot a combined 4-for-22 from three on the night and just 29.5 percent from the field.
For the Bucks, it was their 17th win in their last 18 games against the Bulls, led by reigning Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo who dropped a game-high 27 points to go along with 16 rebounds.
While holding the defending champions to just 93 points was a welcome sign for the Bulls’ defense, their own 86 points was the fewest allowed by Milwaukee all season. DeRozan didn’t mince his words in his postgame interview about the poor offensive performance stating, “No way in hell I shoot 6 for 25 again”. This is the 7th playoff appearance of DeRozan’s career, as he’s averaged 41.8% shooting from the field in 58 games prior to Sunday. He’s been even worse from three in the playoffs with just a 23.3 percentage.
For Vucevic, the numbers aren’t much better comparing his regular season numbers to what he has done in his playoff career, dropping from a 49.4 field goal percentage to 45.3% in his three appearances.
A silver lining in the Bulls’ rough offensive performance? Their free throw shooting. Chicago finished 17-of-19 from the charity stripe, putting them well above their season average of 81.3 percent.
The series starts back up on Wednesday night for Game 2 in Milwaukee as the Bulls look to avoid dropping into an 0-2 hole. Tip off is scheduled for 8:30CT.
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