Milwaukee Bucks Grades and Reactions to 91-82 Game 2 Loss to the Chicago Bulls

Reactions: The Bad

Hmm…where do we start? What’s that? Jimmy Butler you say? Alright…sigh.

That dunk by Butler came midway through the fourth quarter and turned a competitive four-point game into a seven point game, simultaneously giving the Bulls their biggest lead and extinguishing any Buck’s hope of stealing one in Chicago.  After a Khris Middleton miss the next time down the floor, Butler twisted the knife with a three pointer, giving the Bulls an 84-74 lead. Such is life playing on the road in the NBA playoffs.

There was obviously no foul play intended by Zaza Pachulia on this play. Hell, there wasn’t even any foul play

committed

by the Bucks’ venerable big man. That’s hustle right? And Mirotic couldn’t handle it. Just plays earlier Zaza was called for a technical foul as his wrist creeped behind Mirotic’s head while boxing out. That tech was more understandable, but still questionable. What I want to know is what Zaza did to earn the technical on this play? Hustled? Got physical? Got the ball? It must be all of the above.

• The Bucks offense choked down the stretch. They didn’t score in the last two minutes, scored just two in the last four minutes, didn’t score for nearly four minutes, and took bad “hero-ball” shots instead of working it around. It’s almost as if the moment got too big for them. That’s inexperience and youth.  I know it has no bearing on the remainder of this season, but a certain Jabari Parker ‘s return will ensure such offensive ineptitude is not allowed extended stays.

• If there’s an NBA team that should understand how dangerous Mike Dunleavey is, it’s the Milwaukee Bucks. In his two seasons (2011-13) with the Bucks he played the shooter’s role, and he played it well. Dunleavey hit three important bombs in the first half, keeping the Bulls within striking distance of the hot-starting Bucks. There’s just no reason Dunleavey should get open looks. He’s the Bull’s sniper and everyone knows it. To the Bucks’ credit they allowed the veteran shooter just one second-half three pointer.

Speaking of sniping, this happened…nonsense.

• The Bucks did a great job of limiting Derrick Rose’s talented offensive game in the first half. He was held to zero first half points on 0-7 shooting, including 0-3 from three. Nice. But then the third quarter happened. Rose exploded for twelve points on 3-5 shooting (2-3 from three) and 4-4 FT. He looked like the Rose of old in the third quarter: laterally quick, great at the rim, and the fastest player on the court. Let’s hope he gets some gum stuck to his shoe the rest of the series.

Next: Bucks Grades: Starters