MILWAUKEE --- The Chicago Bulls are locked into the Eastern Conference’s 10th seed following Wednesday night’s 105-92 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
That means they’ll play their first---and possibly last---play-in game on the road on April 12.
While the opponent isn’t yet officially determined, it’s more likely than not that it will be against the Toronto Raptors, who won two of three meetings against the Bulls this season. The Raptors would have to go 2-0 and the Atlanta Hawks 0-2 over their respective final two games for the Bulls to play in Atlanta.
The Bulls led by 10 with 7 minutes, 34 seconds left in the third quarter before the Bucks ripped off a 15-0 run to restore matters. The Bucks then pulled away in the fourth.
Here are four observations:
1. For the third straight game, the Bulls started slowly. They trailed by 11 in the opening period.
This time, the Bulls actually moved the ball well and had several open looks from primary scorers who typically bury such shots. But they shot poorly until a flurry led by reserves Derrick Jones Jr. and Coby White closed the gap to 28-21 by the end of the first.
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“You don’t want to ease your way in at all,” Zach LaVine said. “I just think we have to be the more aggressive team.”
The Bulls rallied from their slow start on Sunday to beat the Memphis Grizzlies but lost to the Hawks and Bucks after creating double-digit deficits in the first.
“Teams are just too good,” DeMar DeRozan said. “The room for error is too small when you’re consistently doing that. We have to realize that. There are some games where we can pull that off. But too much has to go right. And we can’t live like that.”
2. DeRozan struggled through one of his worst games in his two seasons with the Bulls. He didn’t score until sinking a free throw with 11:44 left. He missed his first seven shots and didn’t record his first field goal until 10:25 remained.
Overall, DeRozan shot 3-for-12 with three turnovers.
“It won’t happen again,” DeRozan said. “I guarantee you that.”
The Bucks are an elite defensive team and DeRozan did record six assists. But obviously, his offense needs to regain its form for the play-in game.
3. The loss marked a second straight night where the Bulls failed to take advantage of a massive opportunity.
While the Bulls played without Alex Caruso, the Bucks already had announced that Grayson Allen and Pat Connaughton would be sidelined when they added Giannis Antetokounmpo to the inactive list.
Then, Khris Middleton played just 8:24 before exiting with right knee soreness.
On Tuesday at home, the Bulls lost to a Hawks team playing without Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter. So their inability to climb from the 10th seed falls solely on them not cashing in on these opportunities.
4. In a familiar theme, the Bulls had a math problem.
Though they only scored three fewer field goals than the Bucks and again feasted on opponent turnovers by scoring 18 points off the Bucks’ 13 miscues, they badly lost the 3-point battle. The Bucks sank seven more shots from behind the arc, with Jevon Carter and Jrue Holiday making four 3-pointers each.
Holiday had a huge game with 20 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds, though he also had seven turnovers.