Bulls vs Bucks Game 2: A Return to Form
Net swishes, shoes squeaking on the court, and the dribbling of a basketball could be heard in the empty 17,341 seat Fiserv Forum late Tuesday night. DeMar DeRozan was seen having a lone shoot-around the night before Wednesday’s crucial game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Game 1 between the Bulls and Bucks was unexpectedly competitive, as the sixth seed Bulls nearly stole game one from the defending champs. The key reason the Bulls found themselves on the losing side of game one’s 93–86 final score was the lacking performances from the Bulls’ star players, especially DeMar DeRozan. Although Zach LaVine only shot 6-of-19 and Nikola Vucevic struggled with a 9-of-27 shooting night, DeMar DeRozan finished the game shooting a poor 6-of-25.
Back when the free agency period was winding down and the new NBA season was about to begin, the Chicago Bulls and DeMar DeRozan faced an unnecessary amount of criticism for their newly established partnership. Some “experts” said that the Bulls overpaid to sign DeRozan and some “fans” said that the 32 year old DeRozan was washed up after his stint in San Antonio. In a notorious poll, NBA executives and scouts voted DeMar DeRozan to Chicago as the worst signing of free agency. Looking back, the early hate and criticism is laughable, since DeMar DeRozan’s first year with the Bulls has been epic. We’ve witnessed DeRozan help bring a fading Bulls franchise back into relevancy with 27.9 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, 4.9 assists per game, an All-Star game start, and even consistent talk in the MVP conversation. Unfortunately, a 24 percent shooting night against the defending champs in Chicago’s first playoff game since 2017 was bound to reopen the off-season’s critical takes on the Bulls signing DeRozan. From the period between Sunday night’s game one and Wednesday’s game two, the national media and the NBA’s extensive worldwide fanbase have scrutinized DeRozan for his play during game one and have even gone as far as minimizing his career high year with the Bulls and calling back to his unsuccessful playoff runs with Toronto and San Antonio.
When asked about game two following a disappointing game one, DeRozan responded with “No way in hell, I shoot 6 for 25 again.” Although the empty stadium seats covered in white promotional Bucks playoff shirts would be filled with 17,341 screaming fans in 24 hours, the deserted court would be occupied by tough competition like Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the stadium’s silent calmness would soon turn into the high stakes do or die pressure of playoff basketball, DeMar DeRozan’s lone Tuesday night shoot-around in the empty stadium was a quiet brewing of a storm. A storm that wasn’t on anyone’s radar.
Sunday night’s game may have been the Chicago Bulls’ return to playoff basketball, but Wednesday’s 114–110 game two was the Chicago Bulls’ return to playoff winning basketball. Basketball is a team sport and this was an all around team win. Most of the team bounced back as the starting line up with Vucevic, LaVine, Caruso, and Williams came up big for the Bulls. Nikola Vucevic finished with 24 points (4 for 8 three point shooting), 13 rebounds, and two assists. Zach LaVine closed out with 20 points (3 for 4 three point shooting) and three assists. Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams showed up on the defensive end and brought an energetic style of play that helped spark the Bulls defense to earn seven steals, five blocks, and fifteen forced turnovers. The stats show that this a textbook example of an all around team effort, but special emphasis must be given to DeMar DeRozan’s playoff career high performance.
DeMar DeRozan finished Wednesday’s game two with a playoff career high 41 points, shooting over 50% from the field and 100% from the line. In addition to his unstoppable scoring performance, DeRozan contributed seven rebounds and four assists. Not only is DeRozan’s 41 point game massive for the trajectory of the series, but it is an important reminder that DeRozan as a player and the Bulls as a team are still persistent and dangerous. DeMar DeRozan bravely attacking the basket and scoring over Giannis Antetokounmpo to put the Bulls up 114–109 with 18 seconds left is the perfect highlight of the Bulls persistence and threat they pose in the series. While this may be only one game down and the Bulls still have their work cut out for them since Milwaukee is an unstoppable juggernaut, this win has already made the entire season and the signing of DeMar DeRozan a success. DeMar DeRozan’s offensive explosion helped the Bulls not only win a much needed game, but it successfully helped the stagnant Bulls organization and fanbase return to form by getting its first playoff win since 2017, by getting the team back into the national consciousness, and by reminding the city and its fans just how much fun playoff basketball truly is.
