3 players of interest in Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls Game 5
By Dalton Sell
DeMar DeRozan will be a player of interest in Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls Game 5
DeMar DeRozan has been somewhat hot and cold throughout this series, but he is still Chicago’s leading scorer at 23.3 points per game. The Bucks have done a great job of making DeRozan work for every basket offensively, and things are bound to get more difficult for the All-Star forward as Zach LaVine, his running mate, is set to miss tonight’s contest due to health and safety protocols. With LaVine out, DeRozan will be forced to step up mightily, and the Bucks will once again do what they can to prevent him from taking over offensively.
The question is which version of DeRozan will show up in Game 5, as there are two different kinds, as evidenced by Games 2 and 3 of this first round series. In Game 2, the All-Star went berserk and scored 41 points on 16-of-31 field goal shooting, which propelled the Bulls to a road win. After his Herculean effort in Milwaukee, DeRozan failed to replicate that success or anything even close as he scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting in Chicago’s Game 3 loss. With Chicago facing elimination and being down one of their All-Stars, DeRozan will likely look to come out firing in this game to keep his team afloat.
To make sure DeRozan has a night that resembles Game 2 closer than Game 3, the Bucks will rely on Wesley Matthews and Jrue Holiday, who have primarily defended him in this series. Matthews has been excellent on the forward as DeRozan has scored 29 points on 9-of-25 shooting across 146.6 partial possessions when defended by him, per NBA.com/stats. Meanwhile, Holiday has held DeRozan to 19 points on a subpar 7-of-19 shooting across 88.3 partial possessions. These two will take turns defending the All-Star in this matchup, and keeping him in check will be pivotal for the Milwaukee Bucks.
It will be fascinating to see this clash between outstanding offense and dynamic defense in what is set to be a crucial Game 5 matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls.