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By Sam Smith | 4.23.2015 | 9:20 a.m. CT
You wouldn’t exactly consider that 90-mile stretch of Interstate 94 between Chicago and Milwaukee scenic. Oh, sure, there are the attractions, the famous divvy Brat Stop for brats and cheese and the medieval Mars Cheese Castle for brats and cheese. Then there’s X-treme Fireworks near Racine. And fireworks Thursday in the BMO Harris Bradley Center?
It could be with the Bulls leading 2-0 in the NBA playoffs. No team has ever won a series trailing 3-0 and only three teams ever have forced a Game 7.
“It’s a desperation game for them,” said Pau Gasol following Bulls practice Wednesday before the team left by bus for Wisconsin. “They play at home, so they are going to give us their best shot. It’s a must win for them, but we also understand our position and the opportunity we have to get a commanding lead in the series. It will be a huge game for us if we can get it. Let’s see if we can approach the game with high focus, high intensity; it’s a huge, critical game for both teams.”
The Bulls, if not dominating, have been dominant in the series, outscoring the Bucks by 10.5 points in the two games and leading in shooting, rebounding and assists. The Bucks only edge really has been in forcing turnovers, which they rely upon with their offensive and shooting deficiencies. The Bulls have made an uncomfortable 34 turnovers in the two games, compared with 17 for the Bucks.
That’s been offset comfortably, if not overwhelmingly, by Bulls shooting, 42 percent overall and 37 percent on threes and a massive edge of 17 rebounds per game.
Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose have carried the Bulls offense with the Bucks committing additional pressure to Gasol after he scored 46 against them earlier this season. Butler and Rose are combining for 47 of the Bulls’ 97 points. Khris Middleton averages 20 for Milwaukee. The next most is Ersan Ilyasova at 11.5 per game.
The Bulls’ Game 2 91-82 victory was marked by a Bucks ejection and seven technical fouls, one series in which Nikola Mirotic was injured. Though Mirotic was moving better at practice, he will not play Thursday while Kirk Hinrich is possible.
“The nature of it is you get tired of playing against each other over the course of a series, so each game probably gets more and more chippy,” said Mike Dunleavy. “I think that’s just part of it.’’
The Bulls as favorites have anticipated the physical play, much of it coming from bricklayer Zaza Pachulia. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has urged a balance to remain physical, but not retaliate and be drawn into ejections. After all, the Bulls have the talent advantage.
“We stood our ground,” noted Gasol. “We didn’t retaliate out of character. We understand playoffs. It’s a physical time. There are going to be tough plays, more stuff allowed. You just have to play through it and set the tone yourself, try to be aggressive.”
It’s been interesting to watch the NBA over the last few weeks as you could see a hesitancy of the officials to call fouls starting about two weeks before the playoffs. It was a signal of sorts for players to play through contact and quit the whining.
Though Mirotic has been a valuable reserve for the Bulls this season, especially after the All-Star break, his presence is less crucial in this series given the Bucks are not a high scoring team. In fact, it appeared with modest playing time in Game 1, Mirotic wasn’t going to be used much, anyway, against the Bucks. But Gibson got into early foul trouble in Game 2, requiring the substitution. The Bulls are urging Gibson to play through the contact.
“Taj can’t get lost if a call goes against him,” said Thibodeau. “Just play. He’s invaluable to us; we need his defense, we need his rebounding.”
Gasol, who averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in the regular season, is averaging just 10.5 points along with 14.5 rebounds. The Bucks have sent a second defender at him whenever he’s tried to make a move or put the ball on the floor. He and the Bulls have remained supportive and positive.
“That's winning basketball,” said Thibodeau. “Sometimes an inexperienced guy would try to take on the double team and take tough shots to get their points. Pau's going to make the right play. When the second defender comes, he's going to hit the open man. Hopefully, we have good ball movement and good rhythm and we can make some shots.”
It’s a tribute to Gasol, who not only had his career scoring game against the Bucks but who remains the focus of early Bulls attempts in games to create an inside/outside pattern.
“The double teams if they continue, so be it,” said Gasol. “I know if they are double teaming me there is going to be a guy wide open who is going to get a better shot than I would. We’ll see, but I’m prepared if that stops at some point."
“I attract defenders, which I like to do, anyway,” added Gasol. “For the most part that (usually) takes you to get going and score a few buckets and they make an adjustment. But it’s been continuous and automatic since the series started. If that continues, I’ll continue to try to make the right play. Give the ball up and even though I won’t be in very good rhythm someone else will get a very good shot and that’s a good offense.”
Still, it hasn’t been smooth for the Bulls, especially to start the last game after the Bucks committed to some defensive changes the Bulls don’t often see.
The Bucks with their long armed defenders in Michael Carter-Williams and Giannis Antetokounmpo essentially have played forms of zone defense throughout the series and most of the last game. It was a matchup at times, a bit of a two/three and then elements with double teaming and trapping. They’re a very active defense team that has kept the Bulls off balance.
It was apparent in Game 2 with the Bulls trailing 16-11 after the first quarter and then leading only 39-38 at halftime.
The Bucks also have trapped Rose off the pick and roll, though he’s so much faster than Gasol he’s been able to break through without having the ball forced out of his hands. The Bulls appeared to get stagnant early in the game trying to force the ball deep to Gasol.
“We’ve gotten out to some slow starts,” agreed Dunleavy. “I don’t know if it’s just a matter of trying to feel them out, see exactly what they’ve been doing, what adjustments have been made. But we’ve got to get out and move the ball around early. Spread it around and get them moving defensively. Put them a little bit back on their heels because they’re just kind of sitting on everything right now, turning us over the first quarter. Especially Game 2; it didn’t look good.’’
The Bulls have 56 assists on 69 field goals, which is an extraordinary ratio. But it belies the issues with ball movement.
The Bucks’ zoning and switching has seemed to baffle the Bulls at times, producing hesitation in the offense. Against the zone, it’s best to move the ball quickly. But the Bulls have been hesitating at times, emboldening the Bucks on defense.
“There’s been some beautiful possessions, but then there’s been some where it’s been, ‘Wait, what are we doing?’” said Dunleavy. “They turn you over. You can’t be loose with the ball around them, and they do defend us more differently than most teams. They’re doubling Pau right away, they’re doing some different things off our screens and our pin downs, our pick and rolls with Derrick that maybe other teams don’t normally do. It’s been very effective. So it’s a good challenge for us. We’ve got to get better at it, we’ve got to take advantage of it.’’
The Bulls have used Gasol best when he’s been off the ball on the weak side. That’s probably something to look at as Milwaukee shades to the strong side. Some of Gasol’s best options have been on cuts with Noah running the offense on the strong side baseline.
The Bucks have played pretty standard with Pachulia and Ilyasova with John Henson early off the bench. That’s the defensive game Bucks coach Jason Kidd has preferred after the high scoring Game 1 first half. But the Bucks had some success a few possessions with the long armed Antetokounmpo defending Gasol. Perhaps the Bucks will mix in some smaller lineups while protecting themselves with their zone and help defense. It will be something for the Bulls to watch.
Thibodeau often doesn’t like to cross match much to be more solid on defense. So he’ll often let the opponent determine the matchup, which is why Butler has ended up on Antetokounmpo frequently instead of the higher scoring Middleton. Though that changes throughout the game with the Bucks switching and especially when Butler, who played 46 minutes in Game 2, plays offensive reserves like O.J. Mayo.
The rare curiosity about this series is the almost unprecedented support the Bulls get in Milwaukee. Since United Center tickets are so hard to get, the crowd in Milwaukee often seems like 50/50 home and visiting fans when the Bulls are playing. It’s unheard of in most NBA cities, except with popular stars like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
“Not having to go to the airport, not having to go up in the air (is a positive),” said Dunleavy, who played two seasons for the Bucks and grew up there when his father coached the Bucks. “It’s definitely irritating (to the Bucks with so many Bulls fans there). I’m happy to be on the Bulls’ side now. Hopefully we get a ton of people up there, lots of red and fill that thing up. The couple of years I was there it was we played 39 home games and 43 on the road basically. So looking forward to the support."
“They still have home court, and we expect them to play really well,” said Dunleavy. “But that’s kind of like a different mindset (for Bucks players). You’re thinking like, ‘Aw man, let’s shut these guys up’ in your own building. It’s just a little odd. It would be great to have that advantage in having some extra fans up there to make a little noise.’’
But they all know the results matter only on the court.
“If they tell us we’re going to Alaska, we’re going,” said Thibodeau. “We’ll be ready.”