No sweeping success for Rose, Bulls
MILWAUKEE - Don't blame Derrick Rose for giving up the game-winning layup Saturday against the Bucks.
Rose had watched or thrown so many bad passes on the offensive end, how was he supposed to know the last-second inbounds pass by Milwaukee's Jared Dudley would be right on target?
Dudley found teammate Jerryd Bayless, who made a backdoor cut against Rose, caught the ball under the basket and dropped in a layup at the buzzer to give the Bucks a 92-90 victory in Game 4 at the Bradley Center.
"I put that all on me," Rose said in the locker room. "I just wasn't paying attention to the ball. That was a great call from J-Kidd, but if anything this is a learning experience. I don't feel bad about myself, I feel bad for my teammates, knowing that we could have forced an overtime and I messed things up."
The Bulls missed a chance to complete a sweep but still lead this first-round series 3-1 and will get another chance to close it out Monday night at the United Center.
The final basket was significant, but the Bulls coughed up this game one mistake at a time. They piled up 28 turnovers, their worst performance all year, which led to 39 Milwaukee points.
Appropriately, the Bucks' winning basket came after a turnover. The Bulls tried to hold the ball for the last shot, but Rose dribbled into traffic and lost the ball.
"I thought I did (have a path), but it showed that I didn't and they got the ball," Rose said. "Devastating, but we get to play again. I can't believe it."
Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd quickly called timeout after turnover No. 28 and the officials put 1.3 seconds on the clock, which was plenty of time to set up the winning lay-in. The Bucks spread the floor, with Bayless isolated against Rose under the basket. Bayless started to head toward the ball, then reversed course.
"We were trying to act like I was going to get to the corner and we were hoping he was going to bite," Bayless said. "He bit on it and Duds made a spectacular pass. I was luckily able to finish it."
For the most part, Jimmy Butler was the only Bulls player who delivered a strong performance in Game 4. Butler scored a game-high 33 points, hitting 12 of 17 shots from the field and 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
But when the turnovers kept piling up, the Bulls fell behind. They trailed by 12 points in the second quarter after letting the Bucks go on a 21-2 run. Milwaukee took a 90-84 lead with 1:42 left on an O.J. Mayo 3-pointer.
The Bulls had a good response. First, Rose drained a 3-pointer, then he found Pau Gasol for a bank shot and 3-point play that tied the score with 38.4 seconds left.
When Bayless missed a driving attempt, the Bulls had a chance for the final shot. The Bulls didn't use a timeout and spread the floor for Rose. Coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game he tried to call timeout, but the referee didn't hear him. Chances are, Thibodeau would have let Rose create even if he had gotten the timeout.
"I'm not going to put it on that last play," Thibodeau said. "When we turn the ball over like that, you aren't going to have success. We made the run at the end, had a chance. We botched the (last) play, but we botched a lot of plays before that, so we are going to have to straighten that out."
Rose led the Bulls with 8 turnovers, Gasol had 5 and Butler 4. The Bulls' high-turnover game in the regular season was 24 at Dallas, a game they won.
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3 keys to the game
1. Too many turnovers: The Bulls coughed up a season-high 28 turnovers. Fittingly, turnover No. 28 set up the Bucks' winning basket.
2. Mr. Bradley Center: Jimmy Butler used to call Milwaukee home when he played at Marquette. He made himself comfortable in Game 4, scoring a team-high 33 points.
3. Bad ending: The Bulls couldn't get a stop in the final 1.3 seconds, allowing Jerryd Bayless to break loose for a layup at the buzzer.
- Mike McGraw