Eastern Conference | Round 1 | (3) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (6) Chicago Bulls (Bucks WIN 4-1)

[Michael Jackson]

with middelton out this can be a series

I expect the Bucks to come out on fire in game 3. If they do and the Bulls still win, then I will believe it is a series but even without Middleton I think they are just a better "team" in many aspects. The Bucks big problem is they were not taking the series or the season very seriously and that might bite them in this series, and almost certainly in future series if they don't adjust. Don't think Middleton changes much for the eventuality of the Bulls series but it opens the door for the Bulls who now have absolutely nothing to lose and enough talent, as disjointed as it is, to be a threat.

[greekbuck34]

Watch the shots DeRozan made against Giannis. You just tip your hat in that and move on.

https://imgur.com/a/7DbjWeq

[jc23]

Let's see if Jrue "the Jrueth" Holiday is an actual star or just a Mike Conley clone

im actually thinking he will show up in game 3.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Oh man, it’s great being the champs. Honestly the stupid crap you hear from these idiots on these boards is amazing. It’s worth it. When the Bucks level the Bulls in the next three games I’m sure we will hear about how amazing they are. Or not.

You sound incredibly insecure.

Trust me, i don’t give a **** about your opinion about me lol. But thanks for finding my post to tell me how I feel about myself.

Alright buddy.

[jc23]

Watch the shots DeRozan made against Giannis. You just tip your hat in that and move on.

https://imgur.com/a/7DbjWeq

not saying he will continue to do it, but during his hot streak these are the type of shots he made a living at.

[bisme37]

Congrats on your big win Bulls fans!

Bucks fans, very sorry about Mids and Portis. Hope they get back asap.

[cool007]

Watch the shots DeRozan made against Giannis. You just tip your hat in that and move on.

https://imgur.com/a/7DbjWeq

This is not the first time. Demar has been making shots with guys drapping all over him and contesting really good so it's not anything new or just luck either.

If he has done it in a couple of games, then I would agree with you but Demar has done it all season long against pretty much every single team and against any defender. On a couple of those shots, Giannis even fouled him which refs just refused to call it on Giannis.

If Bucks are planning to put Giannis on Demar full game then it will actually benefit Bulls a lot more since it will bring Giannis guard a lot closer to Demar and bring him outside the paint where Bulls can go after offensive rebounds and putbacks - even if Demar misses those shots.

[Ugly Duckling]

I hate to say this as a Bulls fan, but clean Milwaukee sweep. I don't recall ever seeing the Bulls start off so strong and be contenders to falling off a cliff the second half because of injuries.

Lonzo isn't an elite PG but it's really difficult to take away the caliber of his offensive creation for the rest of the team.

Bucks in 4

wrong

[zshawn10]

Read on Twitter

[The Explorer]

Sucks for the Bucks, but bulls will take it given they are missing Ball and Lavine is not healthy. Chicago has a great chance now to take a series lead and even possibly win the series.

[Froob]

Holy smokes just watched on DVR, Bulls really won? Bulls have been way more competitive than I had thought, I had Bucks sweep. Bulls could have won both games so far.

[RRyder823]

Thankfully the 1st round takes forever to finish up. Hopefully Middleton can come back by the mid point of the Boston series and they can steal a game before then

Sent from my SM-G975U using RealGM mobile app

[cool007]

Bucks made a BIG mistake by tanking 1 game to face Bulls in the 1st round - they should have tanked 2 games and should have prepared to face Raptors instead.

** This is why "Be Careful What You Wish For" - when they tanked to face Bulls in the 1st round instead of playing their guys winning the game the right way and man-up and face Nets.

[GSWFan1994]

Bad break for the Bucks. I had them winning the conference.

Still, I think they have enough to advance till the conference finals. Let's hope Middleton is good to go by then... if they are still alive, of course.

[skones]

Bucks made a BIG mistake by tanking 1 game to face Bulls in the 1st round - they should have tanked 2 games and should have prepared to face Raptors instead.

** This is why "Be Careful What You Wish For" - when they tanked to face Bulls in the 1st round instead of playing their guys winning the game the right way and man-up and face Nets.

lol no.

[HomoSapien]

DeRozan getting MVP chants in Milwaukee?

Milwaukee may as well be Chicago.

Chicago sports dwarfs that region so I'm not surprised.

this is why HCA sucks. does nothing. i think league should ban away fans from exceeding certain quota.

This is an absurd take. How would you even enforce this?

[umfan83]

Demar was making contested shots. Giannis was on his face on most of them without fouling something which is important for Demar. What do you expect PJ to do? To block every single one of them?
In the first game Demar was missing all those contested shots. The Bulls made 3 field goals in 20-21 attempts on him that game.
In the 4th quarter tonight Demar missed 5-6 in a row(Giannis and Jrue blocked him 3-4 times) something which helped us come back.
You will live with him shooting those and guarding properly the others.
You won't live if Jrue keep missing open lay ups or if our 40% 3ps shooters like Pat C and Allen keep missing open 3s.

Your boy got **** cooked, torched and eradicated

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It will be unlucky when he goes 6-29 in the next game against the same defense shooting the same contested shots.
Watch the highlights. Almost each shot is with a hand on his face. Great defense. Sometimes a player is having a hot night though.
As I said we will live with that.

He's been hitting those contested shots all year though. I know that's hard to believe and it took me like 3 months of the season for my brain to not automatically go "WYD with that shot?" but he hits them.

The reality is somewhere in the middle though...he won't hit them at the rate he hit them last night, but he won't miss them at the rate he missed them in Game 1

[umfan83]

Holy smokes just watched on DVR, Bulls really won? Bulls have been way more competitive than I had thought, I had Bucks sweep. Bulls could have won both games so far.

It's not at all the same team we saw to end the season. It's like they flipped a switch, but I don't think they did that on purpose. At the end of the season, they didn't even look like they wanted to play with each other. Crazy how quickly things can turn. I think the week off really helped them mentally.

[umfan83]

Watch the shots DeRozan made against Giannis. You just tip your hat in that and move on.

https://imgur.com/a/7DbjWeq

not saying he will continue to do it, but during his hot streak these are the type of shots he made a living at.

Dude literally makes a living hitting a high percentage of highly contested midrange jumpers. I've never seen anything like it.

Looking at those photos, only 2 of them seem contested enough to surprise me that he made the shot. And even then the surprise is mild because I've seen him hit those too. He can get into that zone frequently and when he does, he's nearly impossible to stop. You either have to double him, find a way to deny him the ball or hope that he's off that night.

[greekbuck34]

Watch the shots DeRozan made against Giannis. You just tip your hat in that and move on.

https://imgur.com/a/7DbjWeq

not saying he will continue to do it, but during his hot streak these are the type of shots he made a living at.

Dude literally makes a living hitting a high percentage of highly contested midrange jumpers. I've never seen anything like it.

Looking at those photos, only 2 of them seem contested enough to surprise me that he made the shot. And even then the surprise is mild because I've seen him hit those too. He can get into that zone frequently and when he does, he's nearly impossible to stop. You either have to double him, find a way to deny him the ball or hope that he's off that night.

He is a 47% shooter from midrange in the regular season. That's elite but it's still under 1 point per possession and it's against all kinds of defenders from Bryn Forbes to Kevin Durand and not just Giannis, Wes Mathews and Jrue Holiday in a playoff series.

He made 7 out of 7 of those against Giannis last night. That's 100% and not 47%. He shot 100% with the hand of a DPOY on his face. Great offense always beats great defense so bravo to him for his performance. Now do it again.
In the two games Derozan is shooting 39% from the midrange. Let's see if he ends up close to 50% by the end of the series because trust me our defense won't change based on a career playoff night.

We can live with DeRonan shooting his midrange shots. Sending him at the FT line or allowing easier points at the rim by forcing him to drive instead is much worse options than that.