Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls: Postgame Grades and Analysis
Behind the one-two punch of Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls opened their 2015 playoff run with a 103-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday at the United Center.
Butler finished with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Rose added 23 with a 9-of-16 performance. The two combined to hand out 13 assists as well.
Khris Middleton led Milwaukee, as he scored 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
A stellar defensive effort from the Bulls influenced Middleton's poor performance from the floor, as Chicago's defense held the Bucks to just 40 points in the second half and 39.3 percent shooting for the game.
| Derrick Rose | A |
| Jimmy Butler | A |
| Pau Gasol | C+ |
| Joakim Noah | B |
| Mike Dunleavy | B |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Khris Middleton | B |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | C |
| Michael Carter-Williams | D- |
| Zaza Pachulia | C |
| Ersan Ilyasova | C |
| Rest of Team | C |
Chicago Bulls
Derrick Rose: A
After missing the last two postseasons with injuries, Rose exploded back onto the scene with athleticism and aggressiveness reminiscent of his 2010-11 MVP campaign.
In the first half, with the much bigger Michael Carter-Williams on him, Rose was able to drive and slash to the paint at will. Once there, he showed the ability to contort his body mid-air to score around Milwaukee's bigs.
The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson noted Rose's physical ability:
After halftime, Rose found his rhythm from the outside. After missing his first three three-pointers, he nailed three straight in the third and spearheaded a run that put away the Bucks.
Jimmy Butler: A
Rose's backcourt mate, Butler, had his cruise control on for offense as well. He was scoring inside and out, regardless of who was on him.
Butler's first step beat Middleton, typically a solid defender, a couple of times, and the Bulls' scorer took advantage of slow rotations when his first defender switched off.
On the other end, the Bulls generally put Butler on Middleton or O.J. Mayo, and he did a good job of staying in front of both.
Pau Gasol: C+
Pau Gasol spent a little too much time away from the paint, hoisting up mid-range jumpers when he probably should've gone at Ersan Ilyasova down low.
On the couple of occasions Chicago did run high-lows with Joakim Noah feeding Gasol inside, the results were positive. On one play in the first half, Gasol was able to roll off his man and seal him on the high side while Noah's pass was in the air.
More of that would help Gasol's efficiency. He finished the game with 10 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
On the other end, Gasol did a good job of controlling the boards and the paint. When Noah was in the game, Gasol defended Ilyasova on the perimeter. And when Gasol was the center, he matched up with Zaza Pachulia. In both cases, he was solid.
He grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Joakim Noah: B
Noah played his typically strong all-around game, doing a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor for the Bulls.
Offensively, Chicago was able to run its offense through Noah at the high post on a few possessions. He showed off his stellar vision with a few beautiful feeds and four assists for the game:
On the other end, he did a great job of helping Gasol on the boards by grabbing 11 rebounds. He also created a few extra possessions for his team by picking up three steals.
Mike Dunleavy: B
Mike Dunleavy's primary role is spacing the floor, something he wasn't able to do much of in Game 1. But he took advantage when his opportunity came, hitting three of five three-point attempts, including two straight in the fourth quarter that were the nails in the Bucks' coffin.
Dunleavy found a way to put his fingerprints on the game beyond his nine points as well, grabbing five rebounds and dishing four assists.
Rest of Team: B
Chicago got some solid contributions from its bench, particularly backup point guard Aaron Brooks. The diminutive scorer dropped 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting in just 19 minutes.
Backup big Taj Gibson was productive as well, finishing with 11 rebounds and eight points while providing his typical level of energy and toughness.
Milwaukee Bucks
Khris Middleton: B
With Chicago's defense swarming throughout the second half, Milwaukee's most consistent scorer, Middleton, struggled to find many open shots.
On the other end, he gave up a few drives to Butler and was the guilty party on at least one rotation. But it's hard to assign individual blame in the Bucks' defensive system.
They essentially switch one through five, and the entire roster will have to be sharper on that end in Game 2.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: C
In his postseason debut, Giannis Antetokounmpo was solid in the paint but had a difficult time hitting jumpers when he settled.
Inside, where he could use his 6'11" length and athleticism, he was 4-of-9. On jumpers, he was 0-of-5. With players like Dunleavy and Butler on him, he should be more aggressive in trying to get to the rim.
In terms of the box score, Antetokounmpo was still one of the better Bucks, scoring 12 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists.
Michael Carter-Williams: D-
Rose flat-out dominated Carter-Williams on both ends of the floor. A big reason was MCW's willingness to settle on offense.
As a 6'6" point guard, Carter-Williams has to be more willing to get to the last level of the defense, where he can finish over smaller defenders, kick out to shooters or drop it off to big men.
He finished with just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists.
Zaza Pachulia: C
Pachulia did a good job on both Gasol and Noah, as he found himself on both at various times throughout the game.
He grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and scored six points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Ersan Ilyasova: C
Milwaukee doesn't have a ton of floor spacing, so Ilyasova's role as a stretch-4 becomes pretty critical. In Game 1, he wasn't able to provide much of that space. He went just 1-of-5 from three-point range on the way to 15 points.
That wouldn't be so bad if Ilyasova did some other things on the floor, but he didn't. The three assists and two steals are decent from the power forward slot, but three rebounds isn't going to cut it.
Rest of Team: C
Two Milwaukee reserves reached double figures, with John Henson and Jerryd Bayless scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Both were solid in other areas of the game as well. Henson grabbed seven boards and Bayless dished out five assists.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, the other two reserves who played really struggled. Mayo and Jared Dudley combined to shoot 2-of-11 from the field for eight points.
Coming Up Next
Game 2 of the series will be on Monday, April 20, at 8 p.m. ET. The Bulls will be at home again, before the series shifts to Milwaukee for Game 3.
The Bucks will likely look to be more aggressive on offense and need to do a better job of controlling the boards.
The Bulls, meanwhile, will look to do more of the same, with the possible exception of trying to establish more of an inside presence with Gasol.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
