The Bucks Blew Out The Bulls To Take A 3-1 Lead Thanks To A Huge Grayson Allen Game

For the second straight game, the Milwaukee Bucks have outclassed the Bulls in Chicago to take full control of their first round series despite the absence of Khris Middleton. After a 30-point win in Game 3 on Friday night, the Bucks followed that up with a 119-95 win on Sunday afternoon at the United Center to take a 3-1 lead and give themselves a chance to close out the series on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

Leading the way for the Bucks, as always, was Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Milwaukee got a big boost off the bench from Grayson Allen, who has stepped up to take on some of the perimeter scoring void created by Middleton’s absence, as well as another tremendous two-way game from Jrue Holiday.

The two teams traded blows early, with Milwaukee leading by just three going to the second quarter, but the Bucks opened things up in the second as Allen got hot from three and Antetokounmpo took over on both ends of the floor.

Milwaukee held a 15-point edge at the half and would extend that to 22 early in the third quarter as they came out hot, once again striking from long distance.

The Bulls would go on a run to cut that deficit down to as few as eight, indicating they might have a run in them to make things competitive, headlined by back-to-back threes from Ayo Dosunmu.

The Bucks had a swift answer as they reinserted Giannis into the game and he took over, creating for himself and others, with Allen being the leading beneficiary, allowing Milwaukee to push their lead back out to 16 going into the fourth quarter.

The most notable thing to happen in the fourth quarter was a brief kerfuffle between Zach LaVine and Bobby Portis that resulted in double technicals, as the Bucks continued to roll, pushing their lead out to 24 in the closing seconds.

As the final seconds wound down, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine made an early exit to the locker room, as frustrations were evident on the Chicago sideline with another dismal performance at home after seemingly holding the momentum in the series coming out of Game 2. Those two combined for 47 points in the game, with Patrick Williams adding 20, but the two stars were a combined 16-of-38 from the field and 2-of-11 from three as the Bucks perimeter defense, spearheaded by Holiday, has made life extremely difficult on those two ever since DeRozan went off in Game 2.

On the Bucks side, Giannis finished with 32 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists, as he continues to play spectacular ball in this series. Allen, for the second straight game, topped 20 points with a new playoff career-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting (6-of-7 from three), as he has given the Bucks a huge lift as a floor spacer around Giannis, which is much needed with Middleton out. Holiday ended his afternoon with 26 points and seven assists, along with the aforementioned strong defense on DeRozan.

Milwaukee will head home for Wednesday’s Game 5 looking to close out the series and send the Bulls into the offseason.