Bulls finish off Bucks with a laugher
MILWAUKEE - There were far fewer Bulls fans inside the Bradley Center on Thursday night for Game 6 than there were last weekend.
Maybe the fans could sense the Bulls were on the verge of finally playing their best game, which could result in a historic mismatch.
The Bulls grabbed hold of the antlers at the start of Game 6 and never let go, rolling to a 120-66 victory. It was the worst loss in Milwaukee Bucks franchise history, playoffs or regular season.
The final margin smashed the Bulls' record for biggest playoff victory, which had been the head-scratching 96-54 romp over Utah in Game 3 of the 1998 Finals.
"When we started the game out, it was just like, 'Who are we today?' " Taj Gibson said in the locker room. "I was like, 'Where has it been?' You could just tell guys had that whole mentality of being sick and tired, just sick and tired of seeing the same team over and over, that sense of just wanting to get it over with and move on."
The Bulls jumped to a 3-0 series lead against the Bucks but watched it slip to 3-2 before finally closing it out in Game 6. The reward is a date in the second round against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Game 1 is Monday at Quicken Loans Arena.
"It could have been anybody. It could have been my mom, I'd be happy," Derrick Rose said of the Bulls' next playoff opponent. "I'm just happy to be playing again and happy to be on the court."
The second-round series comes with a ready-made storyline. The Cavs will be without forward Kevin Love, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder last week against Boston and had season-ending surgery. Shooting guard J.R. Smith was suspended for the next two games, so Cleveland will open the next series down two starters.
"You never want that to happen to anybody," Joakim Noah said of the Love injury. "You know they have a lot of talent and they're very capable, so we're going to have to play our best basketball to beat them."
Thursday's clincher against Milwaukee featured no drama whatsoever. The Bulls jumped to an 8-0 lead after three possessions, as Mike Dunleavy (20 points) and Jimmy Butler (16 points) knocked down 3-pointers. The Bulls finished the game with a franchise playoff record 15 3-pointers on 30 attempts.
The Bulls led 34-16 by the end of the first quarter, with Pau Gasol scoring 13 of his 19 points. By halftime, the score was 65-33, and it never got any closer. The Bucks set some sort of record by having no players score in double figures. Center Zaza Pachulia was the leader with 8 points.
"I just thought everybody was really engaged from the get-go," Dunleavy said. "We had a great practice yesterday. Our second unit did a great job of getting us ready. I think the starters really understood how to attack these guys for the first time all series, and we did that."
After the game, the Bulls talked about appreciating the tough test from the Bucks and hoped it will help bring out their best in the next series.
"You've got to give credit to Milwaukee," Noah said. "They were definitely a resilient young group, but it feels good right now to be able to say the series is over and we're getting ready for Cleveland.
"We just know that when we play with that edge we're tough. It's hard to pinpoint. Overall, I'm just happy we played our best game in a huge Game 6. This was big for us. We had to do a lot of soul-searching the last couple days. I think we played really well tonight."
The scoreboard would agree.
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