The Milwaukee Bucks drew first blood in the series against the Chicago Bulls. Will the Bucks go up 2-0 after Wednesday’s game? Or will the Bulls level things up before the series goes to Windy City? Check out our preview below of this Bulls vs. Bucks 2022 NBA Playoffs game.
DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls will just have to forget all the bricks they hoisted in Game 1. DeRozan scored 18 points but was only 6/25 from the field. Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points but was only 9/27 from the floor. But there’s plenty of hope still for Chicago to turn things around in the series. DeRozan can still get it together, while Vooch can make better shot selections after going 2/10 from deep in Game 1. Chicago only had 3-point attempts in the series opener, and for a center to take more than half of those says a lot about how disjointed the Bulls’ offense was. The Bulls also wreaked havoc defensively, forcing Milwaukee to cough up the ball over 20 times. At least on that front, Chicago looked fine, and one can expect the Bulls to keep the same energy on that end of the floor in Game 2. Back in the regular season, they are sixth in the league with 7.1 steals per game and ninth with 6.4 steals rate.
The Bulls are 4-1 against the spread in their last five road games. They are also 4-0 ATS in their last 4 away games versus a team with a winning home record.
It’s always nice to have a two-time MVP on your side. The Bucks surely loved that in Game 1, with Giannis Antetokounmpo towering over everyone with 27 points to go with 16 rebounds and two blocks, while shooting 10/19 from the floor. The Bucks actually did not shoot the ball very well as a team, making just 40.5 percent of their shots, but did not allow Chicago to be better either. Milwaukee’s defense is a big factor in this series and it showed in the series opener in which the Bulls shot only 32.3 percent. DeMar DeRozan was negated by the Bucks’ defense that finished the regular season 10th in opponents’ shooting percentage (45.5%). The Bucks also need to be more careful with the leather after turning the ball over 21 times in Game 1, though it’s also a good sign that they still managed to come away with a win despite that messy ball security.
The Bucks are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games as a favorite in a playoff game. They are also 5-2 against the spread in their last seven games versus Chicago.
