The Chicago Bulls limped into the playoffs as they dropped four of their last regular-season games. The good news is despite that stretch, they qualified for the postseason for the first time in five seasons.
The Three Biggest Takeaways From the Chicago Bulls’ Game Four Loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
And when they managed to beat the Milwaukee Bucks on the road in Game two of their first-round playoff series, things were looking up as the series shifted to Chicago. Unfortunately, that was the beginning of the end for this ball club. The Bulls were trounced in Game three to the tune of 111-81. This marked their worst home postseason loss in franchise history.
With their backs against the wall going into Game four, fans were hoping to see their team take the court with a sense of urgency. However, that didn’t happen, as the Bucks rolled to another lopsided victory, defeating the Bulls by a 119-95 margin.
Here’s a look at the biggest takeaways from the Bulls’ Game four loss to the Bucks.
3. Chicago Bulls Fail to Capitalize on Khris Middleton’s Absence
Bucks forward Khris Middleton — the team’s second-leading scorer — was ruled out for the rest of this series following an MCL injury he sustained in Game two. Unfortunately for the Bulls, his absence didn’t make much of a difference. The Bucks inserted former Bull, Bobby Portis, into the lineup and he has fared quite nicely, to say the least. In Game three, Portis scored 18 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, finishing with a plus-20 net rating. And in Game three, Portis produced another double-double stat line that included 14 points and 10 rebounds.
When it was announced that Middleton would be out for the rest of the series, die-hard Bulls fans were hoping to see their team put up a good fight against the defending champs. Instead, it appears that Middleton’s absence has led to the team playing at a level that the Bulls haven’t come close to matching. This is one of the many reasons why they’re one game away from being eliminated.
2. Grayson Allen Continues to Torment the Bulls
These two teams faced off against each other four times, including a 94-90 win by Milwaukee in late January. Not only did the Bucks win that game, but Alex Caruso would be sidelined for the next several weeks, thanks to this flagrant foul by Grayson Allen.
But if Bulls fans thought that was bad, Allen has been taking it to the Bulls in a different way. After scoring a combined total of three points on 1-for-6 shooting in the first two games, Allen has looked virtually unstoppable against the Bulls’ defense. In game three, he finished with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field and 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
And game four was a nightmarish repeat. In that contest, Allen scored a playoff-best 27 points on 10-for-12 shooting overall and 6-for-7 from behind the 3-point line. It is also worth mentioning that Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 32 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists. But you expect that kind of production from an MVP-caliber player. In other words, to allow an opposing bench player to wreak havoc on your defense on your home floor is simply unacceptable.
1. The Bucks are Just Better Than the Bulls
Yes. I understand this is a pretty harsh statement. It is also an accurate one. Let’s take a look at the regular season. The Bucks won all four meetings between these two teams during the regular season. Their average margin of victory for those four meetings was 14.8 points per game. And the Bulls were limited to less than 43 percent shooting in three of those four contests.
During this playoff series, the narrative has been pretty much the same. The Bucks’ average margin of victory is 19 points per contest. Similar to the regular season, the Bulls’ offense has struggled, to say the least. With the exception of their game two victory, the Bulls have shot 39.5 percent from the field overall and just 26 percent from beyond the arc (28-for-108).
While there are some outliers, there comes a time when we know who the better team is in a playoff series. And unfortunately, the Bucks are the better team in this three vs. six matchup. So while the Bulls will try to put forth a better effort when these teams meet on Wednesday night, it is the Bucks who will be moving on to the next round.
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