Rivals Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks take on each other in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Will the Bulls score an upset this Sunday to take a 1-0 lead? Or will the Bucks remain undefeated versus Chicago this season? Check out our preview of this 2022 NBA Playoffs showdown between the Bulls and the Bucks?
The Bulls enter the playoffs wobbly, having lost four of their last five games and five of their past 10 outings. Still, this is a dangerous Chicago team led by a dangerous man in the form of veteran DeMar DeRozan, who averaged 27.9 points on 50.4 percent shooting from the field in the regular season. If the Bulls are to pass the test in Milwaukee, they are going to need DeRozan at his best. In four games against the Bucks, DeRozan put up an average of 31.3 points on 47.4 percent shooting. That said, the importance of Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic can’t be understated. The Bulls were outclassed in the regular season by Milwaukee, but as long as DeRozan is out there healthy, the Bulls can’t be counted out, as the swingman is a constant threat to explode on any given night. Defensively, Chicago seems to know how to slow down the Bucks’ outside shooting, as the latter’s 3-point production dropped from 14.1 per game to 10.0 against Chicago and accuracy from 36.6 percent to 32.0.
The Bulls are 3-1 against the spread in their last four games on the road.
The Bucks are the favorites to win the series against Chicago for a number of reasons. For one, they defeated the Bulls in all four meetings back in the regular season. The last time they met, the Bucks scored a 127-106 win in Windy City back on Apr. 5. They have the best player entering the series in Giannis Antetokoumpo, the homecourt advantage, and a better offense. The Bucks ranked third in scoring with 115.5 points per game. Antetokounmpo leads the team with 29.9 points per game, while five other Bucks average at least 10.1 points per contest. The Bucks’ frontcourt is now more or less 100 percent healthy with Brook Lopez back. With Lopez, Antetokounmpo, and Lopez, Milwaukee should have someone at all times to put offensive and defensive pressure on Vucevic.
The Bucks are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 games versus Chicago.
