One concerning stat for each Chicago Bulls starter vs Milwaukee Bucks
Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu will be asked to do a lot defensively against the Milwaukee Bucks
It remains to be seen which one of the defensive guards will start against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 on Sunday, but whoever it is will have their hands full guarding either Khris Middleton or Jrue Holiday.
- Middleton vs Caruso: 4-of-5 on 2s, 0-of-3 on 3s, one assist, one turnover
- Holiday vs Caruso: 6-of-10 on 2s, 2-of-2 on 3s, eight assists
- Middleton vs Dosunmu: 7-of-11 on 2s, 0-of-5 on 3s, two shooting fouls, 10 assists, three turnovers
- Holiday vs Dosunmu: 7-of-10 on 2s, 0-of-1 on 3s, seven assists, one turnover
For those keeping score at home, that’s 24-of-36 on 2-point shots (66.6 percent) and 2-of-11 on 3-pointers (18.2 percent). I’ve gone into why the 2-point percentage means more than the 3s with how Middleton should fare in this series but it’s fair to assume that the Chicago guards won’t get the same opponent 3-point shooting luck again.
Not having stout enough point-of-attack defenders (in addition to their lack of rim protection) is a big reason why they had the sixth-worst defensive rating post-All-Star break at 117.9, behind the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings.
In an ideal world for Billy Donovan, Patrick Williams would be a better option against Middleton, and having Lonzo Ball would be a better option against Holiday (and Middleton), but we aren’t living in Donovan’s ideal world and he has matchup problems all over the floor defensively.
Middleton and Holiday’s success against the Bulls is one of the many reasons why ESPN went 20 to nothing in favor of the Bucks in this series, with no one having it go longer than six games.
The Bulls will surely be eager to prove the doubters wrong and that they’re not a pushover in the sixth seed despite their rough end to the regular season. It will just be very tough against the reigning champs.
Next. Analyzing the biggest playoff X-factor for each Milwaukee Bucks starter. dark
The Milwaukee Bucks will try to take advantage of these weaknesses with the Chicago Bulls starting with Game 1 on Sunday at 5:30 pm CT.