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Jamal CollierESPN
MILWAUKEE — This first-round series ended in a disappointing shooting performance against the Milwaukee. Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago BullsForward DeMar DeRozanIt was a guarantee that he wouldn’t shoot this poorly again.
Between Games 1 and 2, DeRozan watched video of every shot he missed. DeRozan went back to Fiserv Forum to take more shots to try to get into rhythm after the Bulls’ bus arrived in Milwaukee on the night before Game 2.
DeRozan delivered on his guarantee on Wednesday with 41 points and 16-for-31 shooting as the Bulls won 114-110 to even the series at 1-1.
DeRozan declared after Wednesday’s match that “I looked at all of my missed shots in Game 1 most of them are mine,” “I won’t let a missed shot stop me from making my next jump shot. I was not aggressive. I just knew [a bad shooting night]”It wasn’t going to happen.”
DeRozan scored a record-breaking 40 points in his first season as a Chicago Bulls player. DeRozan was the fifth Bulls player to score at least 40 points in a playoff match, the first since 2005. Derrick RoseIn 2011.
Bulls center: “He’s capable to doing that every night,” Nikola VucevicDeRozan’s words. “He’s an incredible player. He is a great scorer.
“He plays with such poise. He missed some chances in Game 1, which is something he’s very skilled at. He just kept his cool tonight. He made some tough shots, particularly down the stretch.
“We’ve seen him do it all season. … He may not always be able to make big shots, but he can still go for 41 every evening.
DeRozan was the one who created his own offense, scoring 14 of 27 shots from the dribble. This is more than any Bucks player.
Perhaps most remarkable, he shot 8 of 9 from the field to score 16 points with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo as his primary defender, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Antetokounmpo allowed eight field goals against one playoff opponent in his entire career.
“He is a great player. Antetokounmpo stated that he is a tough guy to guard as he loves to take those midrange shots. “He wants his spot. He is very energetic and has a great sense of rhythm. He will make many of these shots. He did it in the regular seasons. Tonight, he will do it again.
“But at end of day, I feel that we contested every shot. He was not open. We did our jobs and sometimes it isn’t enough.
The Bulls won Wednesday night and became the first team to beat the Bucks since Dec. 26, 2017, with Antetokounmpo as the starting pitcher. Chicago has challenged Milwaukee in this series with two competitive games. That is quite a contrast to the Bulls team who lost 10 of their last 15 regular season games.
Bulls guard Alex Caruso said. “We faced a lot of difficulties. It was almost like we were trying to make the playoffs. We were sort of in a hole. But, we found our strength and got our spirit back.