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Bucks vs. Bulls 2022 Game One
With less than a minute left to play, Chicago's Nikola Vucevic turned over the ball after missing an easy put-back layup, and the defeated look on his face said everything. The Milwaukee Bucks, who came into game one of the Eastern Conference playoffs as a solid favorite, squeezed out a win on Easter Sunday, but it wouldn't come without some tense moments along the way.
Things started off just about as well as they could have for Milwaukee, who jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game. That lead would get as high as 16 points in the opening period, with Giannis Antetokounmpo nearly amassing a double-double in that span. The crowd at Fiserv Forum were loud, aiding Milwaukee’s dominating presence on both ends of the floor. That momentum helped propel the Bucks to a 34-21 lead at the end of the quarter. In a series that Milwaukee is largely expected to win, it was looking ugly for Chicago early on.
The Bulls would rally in the middle of the game, though. Led by the trio of Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan, and Vucevic, Chicago would test Milwaukee’s defense, hitting big some big shots in the second and third quarter to narrow the gap and briefly take a lead in the third. By all accounts, game one after just over a week off didn’t make for good looking basketball, as defense would be the key to winning for either team. Chicago did their part to make things difficult, forcing 21 turnovers from the Bucks. Once the Bulls began to rally and briefly find their stride, Milwaukee was reminded that their first round opponents would not go quietly out of the first round. Things would remain tight up until the final quarter.
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The depth of both teams’ benches is going to be a key factor in this series, and that became apparent when both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zach Lavine for Chicago committed their fifth fouls. A chess match between coach Mike Budenholzer and the Bulls’ Billy Donovan broke out, as both stars came off the floor to be saved for a crunch time situation. Fortunately for Milwaukee, the Bucks have proved their full starting rotation to be offensive weapons, including a recently-returning Brook Lopez, who looked at his best yet on Sunday. While neither Lavine or Giannis fouled out, their limited participation when they were on the floor allowed for the rest of the Bucks to make things difficult for Chicago down the stretch. In the final 90 seconds, points from Lopez, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton would be the difference makers, with the Bucks winning 93-86. Milwaukee held Chicago to their lowest point total for the year, in a win that Giannis, Holiday and coach Budenholzer would call “ugly” in their postgame interviews.
The biggest takeaway from the first game of the 2022 playoffs at Fiserv Forum was the atmosphere of the arena on Sunday. The Milwaukee Bucks are no longer a team that are just happy to be in the postseason, but clearly expecting a championship repeat. There’s a culture of winning being planted in Milwaukee, and a crowd inside and outside of the arena reinforced that, in what is sure to be a noisy series from here on out. The gritty nature of the Bucks’ win Sunday showed that this particular Milwaukee team is ready to take on the responsibility of defending an NBA title.
Game two of the Eastern Conference first round series will take place on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m., with coverage on TNT. If you don’t have tickets, fans are once again encouraged to gather in the Deer District, with watch parties beginning two hours before tipoff.
