At 114-110, the Bulls beat the Bucks to tie the series to a 1-1 draw. With a certain gap between strength and superstar appearance, how did they upset the defending champions? The three details are as follows:
DeRozan 41+7+4+2, Alphabet Brother 33+18+9, Bulls beat Bucks
I. DeRozan's incomprehension.
Joining the Bulls, DeRozan played a career-highest season, and today, he played a playoff-highest game, reflected on the field:
DeRozan shoots mid-range at The Alphabet Brother
Holliday is the league's best outside iron gate, can face DeRozan useless; the last game Matthews defended very well, but this game except for the last quarter of DeRozan's physical decline, the same is not good; therefore, the alphabet brother personally defended, the result as shown in the picture, only in the second half of the game, DeRozan in the second half of the game, deRozan against the alphabet brother into three medium distance, and the final attack, facing the alphabet brother's long arm to complete the winning layup lock victory.
DeRozan Big Hat Letter Brother
Professionally, DeRozan's defense is a short board, but today, as shown in the picture, he turned out to be a one-on-one hat letter brother!
In the whole game, DeRozan shot 41 points on 16-of-29 shooting, setting a new career playoff scoring record; 7 rebounds and 4 assists were the second highest in the team; 2 blocks, the first on the team. DeRozan's "attack, pass, defend" attitude set the main tone for the team's victory.
Second, the outbreak of Vucevic.
When Vucevic was traded for future assets (Wendell Carter and other fresh blood), the Bulls expected him to help DeRozan and Ravin form the Big Three as an internal pillar, but throughout the season, Vucevic did not perform well, and today, he suddenly broke out.
Vucevic's dreamy footsteps
After receiving the ball with Lavin, facing Lopez's top defense, Matthews and Alphabet Brother's two wings to assist in defense, Vucevic actually used his dreamy footsteps to play Big Luo to complete the layup, a typical European-style five-position interior play.
Vucevic three-pointers
And when DeRozan and Ravin repeatedly rushed to the paint to compress the Bucks' defense, Vucevic's 4-of-8 three-pointer from outside the three-point line did not live up to his mission.
In the whole game, Vucevic made 10 of 18, 4 of 8 from three points, and bombed down 24 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, finally fulfilling the effect of the inside giant expected by the team and adding chips for the team to win.
Three, two "fierce characters".
Even if LaVine also contributed 20 points and 3 assists, but the Bulls' big three burst together could not ensure victory, in the third quarter when they led by 18 points, Alphabet Brother and Middleton once forced the score to a difference of two goals; in the last quarter, when they established a 16-point advantage, Alphabet Brother, Lopez and Holliday once chased the score to only 3 points, so the Bulls can win the final victory, the X factor on the field can not be ignored - two "fierce characters"!
TT elbowed Portis, who was wounded
Five minutes into the game, during Portis scrambling for an offensive rebound, Tristan Thompson struck an iron elbow and directly "opened" Portis's right cheekbone, who was directly injured after the blood stained the field, with consequences:
Portis is the Fourth of the Bucks' five-hour shooting, with a 40% three-point shooting rate and agile defensive footwork, and his absence has sharply reduced the Bucks' offensive and defensive interior strength at both ends.
Middleton was injured instantly
In the fourth quarter of 7 minutes and 30 seconds, when Middleton strongly broke through the inside line, Caruso's tough defensive confrontation, Middleton fell to the ground as shown in the split fork, and then directly returned to the locker room, the current US media report is a sprained medial ligament in the left knee, the consequences:
Middleton's 5-of-7 three-pointer before injury contributed 18 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals, making him the team's most stable sniper on the outside, and after his injury, the Bucks' outside offense was constrained and eventually could not complete the counterattack.
Tristan's ferocious defense on the inside caused Portis to be injured, Caruso's ferocious defense on the outside caused Middleton to be accidentally injured, we put aside subjective initiative, only in terms of the impact caused, Portis and Middleton injured in the first and last quarters, is the Bulls can beat the Bucks' on-the-spot X factor.
An additional mention, if Portis and Middleton are difficult to write, this is not only a matter of affecting the outcome of this game, but even likely to affect the trend of the entire series, I hope that the two will not be a big problem, can return as soon as possible and healthy, and present a more exciting series for fans.