Vučević's 3-point shooting a key to Bulls-Bucks series

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MILWAUKEE — Nikola Vučević doesn’t often burst with emotion.

But with 4:40 left in the third quarter of Sunday’s Game 1 slugfest with the Bucks, there was the Chicago Bulls center, back-pedaling across center court with a fist in the air and a roar on his lips after sinking a 3-pointer to level the score 64-64. 

It was Vučević’s eighth straight point, and the Bulls’ first time tied since 0-0.

“It was a big shot for us,” Vučević said after the game. “Especially after the tough start we had, they (the Bucks) kind of jumped on us, and we battled, battled, battled, and we were able to get to a tie game. It’s the playoffs. Every moment is big. Every game is big. And the emotions came out.”

The moments got bigger from there, and eventually the Bulls wilted. Milwaukee eked out a 93-86 win at home to pull ahead 1-0 in the series. Vučević led the Bulls with 24 points, but accrued them on 9-for-27 shooting, which included a rimmed-out layup that would have made it a one-point game inside the final minute. 

Even then, though, he performed the best of the Bulls’ “Big Three,” given DeMar DeRozan (6-for-25 shooting) and Zach LaVine’s (6-for-19) laborious evenings. And in that third-quarter moment, he demonstrated his importance to the Bulls remaining competitive in what many predicted to be a lopsided series.

How? Look again at the above video clip, but fixate on the first two seconds. ​​Vučević sets DeRozan a screen. DeRozan turns the left corner, beginning a downhill drive. As Khris Middleton trails, Brook Lopez sinks back into the paint to wall off DeRozan’s lane to the rim, leaving Vučević time and space to square himself for a clean catch-and-shoot opportunity.

This is how the Bucks defend. Shift heavily to prevent drives, and if the consequence is open 3-point looks, rotate as fast as possible to contest. Because he was typically guarded by one of the Bucks’ primary rim protectors, Vučević had plenty of opportunities just as open as the one highlighted above on Sunday. In turn, he hoisted more shot attempts than any other Bulls player.

“It's just the way they (the Bucks) play defense. They just collapse in the paint, they take the paint away from teams, and they don't give up the 3, but that's the shot you're gonna get,” Vučević said. “You have to make that shot to be able to beat them.”

Yet, in the first game this season he took double-digit 3-point attempts, Vučević went just 2-for-10. As a team the Bulls shot 7-for-38 from deep.

“I got a lot of good looks. A couple of my 3s rimmed out,” he said. “I make a few of those, this may be a different game.”

Vučević knows from experience. In August 2020, he starred for an overmatched Orlando Magic team that stole a first-round game from the Bucks in the the bubble playoffs. In their lone victory — which came in Game 1 — Vučević scored 35 points and shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range. He averaged 28 points and took 8.8 3-point attempts per game, shooting 40.9 percent, in the five-game series.

“There were games I made five, six 3s and those were the games we had a chance,” Vučević said of that series. “And the Game 1 we won was because I went off behind the arc.

"You have to play off what the defense gives you and they're gonna make sure they really crowd the paint and they don't give anything easy at the basket. It’s on us to make the right play, whether it's a kick-out, drive or 3 or whatever it is. You just gotta take the shot that's there and live with it.”

Even if the Bulls are eventually dispatched, clean looks should be available all series long for Vučević, especially from long distance, as the Bucks load up on DeRozan and LaVine. Although Vučević endured his worst 3-point shooting regular season since 2017-18 this year — converting 31.4 percent of 4.5 attempts per game — he possesses the talent to break out on any given night.

“You can't think about it (who takes the most shots) in the playoffs, you just have to play off whatever the defense gives you and stay aggressive and make the right play,” Vučević said. “Next game if I get good looks again, I'm gonna take them again.”

The Bulls need him to. And they need them to fall. Otherwise, the team’s first playoff run since 2017 will be a short one.

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