The Chicago Bulls edge out the Milwaukee Bucks 113-106 in a tight contested double overtime affair. Derrick Rose dropped 34 points eight assists and five boards. He even played 48 minutes total, his highest minutes played since the MVP season. Jimmy Butler added 24 points in 53 minutes to help the Bulls take a 3-0 series lead.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the most consistent player on the Bucks, he scored 25 points and Khris Middleton put up 18 points and seven assists. Both teams shot around 43 percent from the field but the difference came in threes. Chicago hit 14 while the Bucks only hit six. Chicago also shot 79 percent from the charity stripe while the Bucks shot 56%.
The First quarter was pretty contested and ended tied at 27 a piece. The Bucks however went on a nice run in the second quarter led by forward Antetokounmpo.
Along with some Jared Dudley three’s and OJ Mayo baskets the Bucks had found themselves up in the second 49-31. Chicago got it together, thanks to some Dunleavy and Butler offense and ended the quarter on a 14-2 run, Bulls started off the third quarter just how they finished the second, on a roll. Thanks to a couple of three’s from Dunleavy and some contributions from their other four starters to take a 61-57 lead after being down by 18 in the first. The Bucks continued to battle after losing the lead but Rose went all ‘vintage Rose’ as he helped the Bulls outscore the Bucks 17-12 that quarter. Just like in Game 2, the Bulls started to take control in the fourth and show why they’re a favorite to win this series. They were playing with so much energy the Bucks crowd even had to show some love.
Loud “Let’s Go Bulls” chant erupting in Bradley Center during time out. — Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) April 24, 2015
Snell hit back to back three’s and with a 86-94 lead, they looked to be heading to a nice 3-0 series lead. However with 1:27 left this game turned into the Khris Middleton Show.
Rose went on to get fouled and hit one of two free throws to tie the game. Middleton missed the ensuing game winner and the game went into overtime.
Overtime started off with a Butler layup followed by a Mayo fadeaway. Both teams scored two more times but after the 2:31 mark neither team was able to score which led us to a second overtime. Just like the first overtime Butler got the period started again with a nice breakaway dunk. Then the former MVP Derrick Rose takes over scoring six of the next 10 points to close out the Bucks. The Bucks didn’t score any points in over a six-minute span between the two overtime periods.
Game 4 of Bulls-Bucks will be on Saturday at 5:30 PM EST on TNT as Chicago will look for the series sweep.
