The Chicago Bulls (1-1) and Milwaukee Bucks (1-1) traveled to the Windy City for Game 3 of their first-round series. A win for the Bulls would give them a 2-1 series lead with a chance to put Milwaukee against the wall with a home victory in Game 4. A victory for the Bucks would steal back their homecourt advantage in the series. In their first game in the wake of Khris Middleton’s injury, the Bucks bludgeoned the Bulls, 111-81, to steal back homecourt advantage.
Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with 19 points. He also secured 6 rebounds. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan combined for 26 points on 10-for-22 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and 9 assists.
Grayson Allen led the Bucks in scoring with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting; he shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Here are 3 observations from Game 3
Just a step too far away from Grayson Allen
The Bulls put a lot of unnecessary pressure on themselves due to poor positioning on defense. Grayson Allen logged 6 minutes off the bench in the first quarter, but afforded the Bucks some extra cushioning with 3 triples in the first frame.
It wasn’t as if Allen did anything special beyond his scouting report. The Bulls just blew rotations as the ball traveled from spot to spot within Milwaukee’s offense. Helpers were just a step or two beyond reach, or they fell for Allen’s pump-fakes and lost control on their contests.
Those miscues left Allen open for catch-and-shoot threes, and he helped dig the Bulls into an 18-point hole in the first quarter.
Giannis takes over in the third quarter
The reigning Finals MVP was all over the place in the period following halftime. On one of the Bulls’ first plays, he disrupted a Chicago action (pindown for DeMar DeRozan to curl into a dribble hand-off from whoever has the ball), ripping the ball from DeRozan’s grip and then bolting to Milwaukee’s basket for an alley-oop finish.
Antetokounmpo also ripped down 3 rebounds in the frame and dished a pair of assists to go along with the 8 points he scored.
Antetokounmpo’s work all the way around the court turned an unlikely, but not impossible 19-point deficit into an insurmountable 31-point deficit going in the game’s final act.
Bulls lost the middle of the floor
The Bulls were taken all the way out of the game when Milwaukee put an emphasis on pinching the lanes in the middle of the floor against Chicago’s halfcourt offense. DeRozan was swarmed upon stepping inside the three-point line and either turned the ball over or was forced to give the ball up to a teammate. The same happened to LaVine, who was eventually relegated to roaming off the ball for catch-and-shoots.
There’s nothing wrong with ball movement, but the Bucks essentially forced the star wings to bet on their teammates to make shots or plays. But without Lonzo Ball, the Bulls aren’t built that way.
If it wasn’t a pass out to an offensively limited teammate, it was a live-ball turnover for Chicago to ignite Milwaukee’s transition offense. Transition offense can be managed; transition offense led by Giannis Antetokounmpo cannot.
The game was over before the fourth quarter.
The Bulls (1-2) will try to tie the series up in Game 4 on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 1 PM, Eastern time. You can catch it on ABC.
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