Bulls' loss to Bucks a painful one
MILWAUKEE — From the Bulls' perspective, Wednesday night's game was a potential first-round playoff preview.
From the Bucks' perspective, they're fighting just to make the playoffs, and they outscrapped the Bulls in this one. Milwaukee grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, led the second-chance points 23-10, and beat the Bulls 95-91.
The loss ended the Bulls' six-game winning streak against the Bucks and a nine-game streak at the Bradley Center. Before this game, Milwaukee had lost 12 of its last 16 overall.
“It's like Thibs said: That team, we've beaten them so many times and we've beaten them pretty good,” Taj Gibson said. “He told us they're going to come out and give us their best, and they did.”
The Bulls may have lost guard Kirk Hinrich to an injury. He left the game midway through the third quarter when Milwaukee's 270-pound center Zaza Pachulia rolled into his left leg. Coach Tom Thibodeau said X-rays were negative, but Hinrich was limping badly after the game.
The loss also dropped the Bulls (45-30) into fourth place in the East. They're tied for third with Toronto, but the Raptors would win the tiebreaker because they're a division champ and the Bulls are not, even though the Bulls swept the season series 4-0.
At the moment, the Bulls would be facing a first-round rematch against Washington, but there still are seven games left in the regular season.
If there's a lesson for the future, it's that the Bucks present some tricky matchups. They can throw a big backcourt at teams with 6-foot-6 Michael Carter-Williams and 6-7 Khris Middleton. They also have size down low with the 6-11 Pachulia and 6-11 Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd sent Carter-Williams into the post against Aaron Brooks (generously listed at 6 feet) with frequency in the first half, and Carter-Williams scored 15 of his 21 points before halftime.
The Bucks (37-38) knocked down a couple of jumpers to build a 92-88 lead with 2:56 left. The Bulls had a chance to take the lead, but trailing by 1, E'Twaun Moore's cutting layup was erased by the long arms of Antetokounmpo.
On the other end, Ersan Ilyasova tipped in a miss to make it 94-91 with 1:07 left.
Trailing by 3 in the final minute, the Bulls got three good looks at tying 3-pointers, but Nikola Mirotic missed twice and Mike Dunleavy once. The Bulls went 0-for-11 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter and 5-for-26 for the game.
“They were definitely the more aggressive team,” Joakim Noah said. “They were the hungrier team, and it showed. All the hustle stats, every loose ball, all the offensive rebounds they got. Disappointing loss.”
Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 25 points, but no one else really got going. Pau Gasol finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Gibson scored 12 points in 20 minutes but sat down the stretch after getting his fifth foul.
The 20 offensive rebounds tied a season high for a Bulls opponent.
“They whupped our (butt) on the boards, to tell you the truth,” Butler said. “It's not the bigs' fault, I think it's the majority on the guards, because we didn't get in there and help. That can't happen. We've got to correct it.”
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