Photo via Twitter / Bucks
It came down to the final day of the regular season, but the Eastern Conference playoff picture has finally settled, and the Milwaukee Bucks have drawn the Chicago Bulls for the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. The defending champions finished the regular season with a 51-31 record, securing the third seed after resting the entire starting lineup on Sunday in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The benefits to having the third seed are twofold, as Milwaukee not only gets a full week of rest before game one of the series tips off on Easter Sunday, but also have a week to prepare for a known opponent. Rather than watching the Eastern Conference play-in games as they develop, the Bucks can set a gameplan for a team that they’ve beaten four times this year. In fact, the Bucks have won against their I-94 rivals 16 of their last 17 meetings, dating back to 2018. The last time the two met in the playoffs, the Bucks lost in six games to Chicago in 2015.
This year’s Chicago Bulls team was a bit of a surprise at first, and at one point led the Eastern Conference with just over six weeks remaining in the season. However, Chicago dropped 15 of 22 games since taking the conference lead, skidding all the way down to the sixth playoff seed. The Bulls only won four of their last ten games to close out the year, including a narrow win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to secure their playoff fate.
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In four wins against the Bulls this season, the Bucks had two close calls, but handled Chicago accordingly. The closest contest was in their first meeting of the year back in January, when Milwaukee edged out a 94-90 victory on the strength of 30 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis also recorded 34 points against Chicago in a 118-112 win in early March, and the season series closed on a pair of 20-plus point victories in the last 11 games of Milwaukee’s season. The Bucks’ defense proved effective in both of those big wins, with the Bulls only shooting around 42% on each occasion.
Chicago will also be without point guard Lonzo Ball, who was a big factor in their early winning ways. Ball suffered a torn meniscus back in January. Setbacks have kept him off the floor, and he was officially shut down for the season and playoffs by the Bulls on April 6. Guard Zach Lavine has also dealt with a knee injury for much of the second half of the season, leaving forward DeMar DeRozan and center Nikola Vucevic to handle much of the scoring for Chicago. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is looking fairly healthy, although knee issues for Giannis Antetokounmpo are certainly enough to leave any Bucks fan just a little concerned. After sitting on Sunday and conceding the league’s scoring title in the process, Giannis should be well-rested headed into game one.
Things look promising for the Bucks as they set out to defend their NBA Championship, but as we’ve learned, no team should be taken for granted. Game one of the Bucks vs. Bulls series will tip off on Sunday, April 17, with a time not yet set. The series schedule will be finalized in the coming days.
