After being down 3-0, Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks won two games in a row and forced Game 6—something very few thought they could do.
But back at home with an opportunity to force Game 7, the Bucks ran out of juice, as the Chicago Bulls made 15 threes and shot 51.1 percent from the field to take the series in Game 6, 120-66.
It was apparent from the beginning. Chicago came out and made nine out of their first 13 shots and won the first quarter 34-16. From that point on, Milwaukee just couldn’t catch up. But Coach Kidd isn’t dwelling on the 54-point loss, he is instead looking back at the way his squad, the youngest to make the postseason, grew over the last six games.
“We got better,” Jason said. “The whole experience of being in the playoffs, you can’t take that away from those guys, no matter if you lose by 40 or you lose by one. It’s a loss. That’s it. You move on.”
Coach Kidd has been able to mold this young team since summer workouts, and all year the Bucks have been receptive to Jason’s teachings. He was sure to teach them one more lesson in the locker room after the rough defeat.
“My thought after the game was I wanted to congratulate the guys on a great year,” J-Kidd said. “Not just a great series, but a great year for putting themselves in this position. The second (thing) is to learn from this situation and use it….I don’t want to say for motivation for the summer, but for them to get better because they’re not a secret anymore and they’ve got to get better if they want to compete against the best.”
Things got chippy from the beginning; Mike Dunleavy caught Michael Carter-Williams with a fist to the jaw in the opening quarter. In live action nobody saw it, but in the replay it was easy to see that Dunleavy may have been targeting Carter-Williams while he was defenseless in the air trying to make a floater.
It put Carter-Williams out, but it got Dunleavy going as he scored 19 of his 20 points in the first half. Meanwhile, MCW did not return to the court until 1:42 remained in the first quarter, with the Bucks already trailing, 32-16.
It only escalated from there, as frustration began to rise for Milwaukee. Just before intermission, with 1:34 left, Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected for a flagrant-two foul as he pushed Dunleavy into the first row of courtside seats. That play came after Dunleavy used a right forearm to shed Antetokounmpo on a rebound.
“It wasn’t very smart,” Kidd said of Antetokounmpo’s angry reaction. “He’ll learn from that mistake he made tonight.”
The bad news kept coming for the Bucks, who trailed, 65-33, at halftime and, 88-44, late in the third quarter.
It was a clinic. Chicago’s star-players were comfortable and it showed as shots continued to fall through the basket at the Bradley Center.
All five Bulls starters scored in double-digits, Pau Gasol had 19 points and eight rebounds, Jimmy Butler scored 16 with four steals and Derrick Rose notched 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds in 25 minutes.
“The five (Bulls) that started the game set the tempo by pushing the ball on our misses,” Coach Kidd said. “They got a lot of transition baskets. They had 10 at one point and we only had 18 points. We talked about it in Game 1 that on makes or misses, they were going to run it back at us. With the rest, we anticipated that was going to be something they did, and they did it well.”
By the final quarter Coach Kidd played only reserves. Tyler Ennis, Miles Plumlee, Jorge Gutierrez and Johnny O’Bryant all exceeded at least 12 minutes of playing time as they saw their first action all series in front of a very encouraging home crowd of 18,717. Not one Milwaukee player scored in double-figures.
“Have to tip your hat to Chicago,” Jason said. “They jumped on us from the start and we just could never recover from that. The guys have to get ready this summer, get better this summer and stay safe—get ready for next season.”
