MILWAUKEE — In the fourth quarter of any game, the Chicago Bulls are always comfortable with a single-digit deficit and the ball in DeMar DeRozan’s hands. That has been a tried-and-true formula throughout DeRozan’s first season in Chicago.
But DeRozan couldn’t deliver late-game heroics in Game 1 of the opening round of the NBA playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks. He didn’t make a fourth-quarter basket until 2:11 remained in the game, going 1-for-7 in the quarter, and he took only two free throws in the second half.
And despite the Bulls erasing a 16-point first-half deficit, a fourth quarter devoid of DeRozan’s magic allowed the Bucks to escape with a 93-86 win.
Neither team cracked 100 points in an ugly night of bludgeoning basketball as both teams struggled to make shots. The Bulls shot 32.3% from the field and went 7 for 37 from 3-point range, while the Bucks went 15 for 23 from the free-throw line.
The early minutes looked dire for the Bulls. Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined for a 9-0 opening burst, and the Bucks quickly climbed to a 16-point lead. The Bulls knew they couldn’t counter the size of the Bucks straight up, but they also failed to capitalize on a key advantage from long range.
The Bucks sacrifice defending the 3-point line to focus nearly all of their defensive attention on the paint, where Antetokounmpo and Lopez loom large to affect every layup and post-up. This left the long-range shots wide open, but the Bulls went 3 for 17 from 3-point range in the first half, including a 10-minute stretch without hitting a shot behind the arc.
The Bulls outscored the Bucks 22-17 in the second quarter, forcing offense through free throws to chisel the deficit to 51-43 at the half. They were bolstered by a poor shooting performance by the Bucks, who went 6 for 22 from the field in the second quarter and 5 for 10 from the line in the first half.
The Bulls needed all three of their All-Stars to show out to keep level with the Bucks. Nikola Vučević fulfilled that task in the third quarter, aggressively backing down Lopez for a post-up bucket, then splashing a tying 3-pointer on the next play. Coby White knocked down a 3 to lift the Bulls into a 67-64 lead — their first of the night — with 3:11 left in the third.
The Bulls stretched their short-lived lead to five, but the Bucks had a simple answer to quell the comeback — substituting Antetokounmpo back into the game. The Bucks went on a 10-2 run to retake a three-point lead to end the third, with Antetokounmpo finishing the quarter with a bulldozer drive to flatten DeRozan on the way to a layup.
