Photo via Twitter / Bucks
When it’s on for the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s on. When they’re off, it is glaringly obvious that they’re off, and that was the case on Wednesday night in game two of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Chicago Bulls. The Bucks never really found their momentum, and the game may have repercussions beyond the mid-week blunder.
While Milwaukee jumped out to a 9-0 lead in game one, the script was flipped when Chicago did the same on Wednesday. Much like the series opener, things would be gritty all night, with both teams having their moments but never fully capitalizing on them. Milwaukee would eventually erase the opening deficit, but looked flat for much of the first half.
To make matters worse, center and at times intangible sparkplug Bobby Portis left the game in the first quarter, after an errant elbow from Chicago’s Tristan Thompson caught him in the eye, and he would not be cleared to return. In a short time on the floor, he provided a memorable moment, earning a foul and then walking into the Fiserv Forum crowd to wake up the Bucks faithful. Portis would get the arena chanting his name, but when he went to the locker room for evaluation, it felt like the air had been taken out of the arena.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was his usual self, dipping through the lane and finding ways to the basket that to the average NBA player would look impossible. He was just an assist away from recording yet another triple-double, but even he had his fair share of miscues while posting up a team-leading 33 points. Milwaukee’s big three were responsible for the majority of the team’s 15 turnovers, and Chicago were able to convert those into big shots on the other end of the floor.
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To their credit, the Chicago Bulls were also motivated to even up the series as they head back to Chicago for game three, led by a 41-point performance from DeMar DeRozan. At times, it felt like the Bulls couldn’t miss, getting separation on the perimeter for their fair share of open three pointers. The starting trio of Zach Lavine, Nikola Vucevic and Alex Caruso would all hit shots from beyond the arc, at times when you least wanted to see them go in. Chicago would go into halftime with a 14-point lead, but it never really felt like the Bucks were truly out of it.
Up until the midway point of the third quarter, it seemed like the Bulls might run away with the rest of the game. A big run out of the gate in the second half gave Chicago a comfortable lead. With around five minutes left in the quarter, though, Milwaukee was able to shake the pressure and look like the defending champions. A 15-2 run cut the Bulls’ lead to just three points, before Chicago responded with a 13-point run of their own. The Bucks would respond, but another crushing moment came with just over six minutes remaining in regulation, as Khris Middleton would exit with what has now been diagnosed as an MCL sprain. An MRI is scheduled for today, and his status for game three on Friday in Chicago is very much up in the air.
The Bucks were close to erasing Chicago’s lead entirely, but fell short, dropping game two by a score of 114-110. The series heads 90 miles south for games three and four on Friday night and Sunday afternoon from United Center. While it would be safe to say that Wednesday’s game was simply an off night for the Bucks, both games in this series have been close, in yet another reminder that the postseason is a separate animal in the NBA. Getting momentum back on the Bucks’ side is crucial in Friday’s game three matchup, and as they did throughout all of last year’s championship run, Milwaukee will have to again rise to a challenge to get back to their winning ways.
Game three between the Bucks and Bulls tips off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night from Chicago, with coverage on ABC. Game two’s watch party in the Deer District was cancelled due to rain and high winds in the forecast, but fans will be encouraged to reconvene on Friday to cheer on the Bucks downtown.
