Bucks Zone

Pathetic Finish Dooms Bucks Against Bulls

It was hard to tell which team was tanking
Ethan J. Skolnick|
David Banks-Imagn Images

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Milwaukee BucksChicago Bulls

One of the two teams has been in a freefall for more than a month, tanking toward the end of the season, losing 11 straight games entering Sunday's play.

The other team had rallied without its superstar to get to the edge of the play-in.

It was hard to tell which was which in Sunday's fourth quarter.

The Milwaukee Bucks took a two-point lead into that quarter, before completely falling apart. The Bucks made just three field goals in the quarter, scored just eight points and gave up a 27-0 run that was almost impossible to believe. And when that 33-8 quarter was over, the Bucks had an embarrassing defeat, the first loss to the Bulls in the four games this season.

Everyone on the court for Milwaukee played a role in the baffling brickfest.

Ousmane Dieng missed. Bobby Portis missed. Kevin Porter Jr. missed. AJ Green missed.

Portis missed again. Green missed again.

Ryan Rollins missed. Myles Turner missed.

The Bucks missed 17 straight shots. Seventeen!

Meanwhile, Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis and Collin Sexton were taking control. Sexton compiled 22 points and was a plus-28 for Chicago in 32 minutes off the bench.

The game was so gone with four minutes left that Doc Rivers emptied the Bucks bench.

Porter, Jr., finished 4 of 16. Dieng finished 3 of 12. Turner finished 3 of 10. Cam Thomas finished 3 of 11. The Bucks shot 37 percent overall, compared to the Bulls at 51 percent.

Again, this was the Bulls first win... in a month. And it suggests again that the Bucks have gone as far as they can go without Giannis Antetokounmpo. They had a solid stretch, but the defense has lapsed of late, and now the shot-making is disappearing too. The loss to the Bulls came on the heels of Jalen Brunson getting anything he wanted for the Knicks against Milwaukee.

The Bucks are now three games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the 10th spot, the final one that qualifies for the play-in tournament. And just two games ahead of the Bulls, who have done everything they can (until Sunday) to dive out of any kind of contention.

It won't get any easier with the Celtics up next. Boston, behind Jaylen Brown, is trying to grab the second seed in the Eastern Conference, even without Jayson Tatum.

Hopefully, the Bucks will reach double digits in their next quarter.

Published
Ethan J. Skolnick
ETHAN J. SKOLNICK

Ethan is the CEO of Five Reasons Sports Network, based in South Florida and manages the OnSI sites for the Florida Panthers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks. Previously, he wrote for all the major newspapers in South Florida as well as Bleacher Report, and was an afternoon drive radio host. He has a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and an M.S. from Columbia University.

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