The Bucks beat the Bulls 116-100 today to eliminate the Bulls by a big score of 4-1 and will play the Eastern Conference semifinals with the Celtics.
Alphabet Brother performed very well today, playing 30 minutes, shooting 11 of 15, including 0 of 1 three-pointer and 11 of 14 free throws, with 33 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. In the first round of the series, Alphabet Brother averaged 33.6 minutes per game, could get 28.6 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists, and shot 56.8% from the field.
In addition, in the past 7 wins can eliminate the opponent's series finale, alphabet brother can average 33.1 points, 11.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, shooting 60% from the field, plus-minus total +131, leading the Bucks to a record of 7 wins and 0 losses, not a single game lost.
Including Alphabet Brother, the Bucks had six players in double figures today, and Connaughton scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6-of-9 three-point shooting. Holliday shot 4-of-14 and had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists. Portis shot 6-of-13 and had 14 points and 17 rebounds. Lopez Jr. shot 4-of-8 and had 12 points and five rebounds. Grayson Allen shot 5-of-10 and had 13 points and five rebounds.
On the Bulls side, DeRozan was in a slump, shooting 5-of-10 from the field and only having 11 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Vucevic shot 8-of-15 from the field, 3-of-9 from three-point range, and had 19 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks. LaVine, Ball and Caruso all missed today's game due to injury.
For the Bulls, the first round loss to the Bucks is a high probability event, their regular season record against the Bucks this season is 0-4, directly swept, the record against other strong teams is also very bad, plus there are several important players suffered injuries, so being eliminated is expected, many people also think the Bulls will be swept, but the Bulls still got a victory, which is still very good, at least a little better than the Nets.
The Bulls were able to win a victory to avoid being swept away, and DeRozan was inseparable, and in the second game, DeRozan slashed a playoff career-high 41 points to beat the Bucks. However, throughout the series, DeRozan's personal performance was really not good enough, and he only played one good game, and the other four games were not good enough, averaging only 20.8 points per game in the first round, shooting just over 40% from the field.
Of course, the Bulls stopped the first round is not just a problem for DeRozan alone, if the Bulls lineup remains intact, they can still break the wrist with the Bucks. The Bulls have assembled a very competitive squad this season, once ranked first in the East, but they are also plagued by injuries, so their record against strong teams is terrible. Their return to the playoffs this season is a success, and as long as they stay healthy, they're still worth looking forward to next season.