Bucks defeat Bulls to win series
MILWAUKEE – The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks continue to produce in the postseason even without key performers.
The Chicago Bulls simply don’t have that kind of depth or playoff savvy.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points and nine rebounds and the Bucks routed the Bulls 116-100 on Wednesday night to finish off their first-round series in five games.
The Bucks won the last three games by an average of 23.3 points despite playing without Khris Middleton, the All-Star who sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during the fourth quarter of Game 2.
The third-seeded Bucks advanced to face second-seeded Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with Game 1 on Sunday in Boston. The Celtics swept Brooklyn. “After Game 2, we kind of talked about how we know what the deal was,” Antetokounmpo said. “The team knew what the deal was. We knew what we had to do. We had to be desperate. We had to go out there and compete at a high level, pay attention to detail as much as possible, help one another defensively. We’ve got to do it as a team.”
The Bucks have been through this before. They won their first title since 1971 last season despite losing Antetokounmpo for the last two games of the Eastern Conference finals due to a hyperextended knee
“We’ve been talking about the depth of the roster, the quality of the roster a lot this season,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Other guys have gotten opportunities and played well. Our defense has tightened up, and we’ve leaned hard on that these three games. We’ve got depth. We’ve got a good group.”
Chicago didn’t handle the loss of key players quite as well.
The Bulls played without the starting backcourt they used for the first four games because two-time All-Star Zach LaVine was in health and safety protocols and Alex Caruso was in concussion protocol. Without them on the floor, the Bulls fell behind by as many as 29 points in the first half. “This was a lot of our guys’ first rodeo, just understanding what it’s like to compete in a playoff series,” Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan said. “There’s so much you can learn from that experience, especially going against the defending champs.”
Milwaukee focused on containing DeRozan, who had scored 41 in the Bulls’ Game 2 victory. DeRozan was held to 11 points Wednesday while shooting 5 of 10, though he also had seven assists.