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 The Game 6 margin was the largest ever in an NBA playoff-series
clincher, and it was the fourth largest in postseason history.
"I never thought I would say this but I'm very excited to go to
Cleveland," said forward Joakim Noah, referring to the Bulls'
second-round opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Chicago was in complete control from the opening tip. The Bulls led
by as many as 18 in the first quarter, 32 at halftime and 40 early
in the third quarter.
The Bulls shot 51.1 percent from the field, made 13 of 50 from
beyond the arc and scored 23 points off 18 Milwaukee turnovers,
setting a franchise record for largest postseason margin of victory.
Forward Mike Dunleavy led the Bulls with 20. Forward Pau Gasol added
19 and guard Jimmy Butler scored 14.
"When you got Mike hitting shots like that and Jimmy hitting shots
like that, it's pretty tough," point guard Derrick Rose said.
Center Zaza Pachulia scored eight points to lead Milwaukee, which
was riding high after a double-overtime near-miss in Game 3 and a
surprising road victory in Game 5. But they came out flat Thursday.
While the Bulls shot the lights out, the Bucks hit 39 percent from
the field in the first quarter and had only 33 points at halftime,
one short of the franchise playoff low for a half.
"We knew they were going to come out with everything they had,"
Bucks guard Khris Middleton said. "We just didn't have responses to
it. We couldn't get going offensively, we couldn't get stops and it
just got ugly from there."
The 54-point loss was the worst in franchise history.
"It was the worst game at the worst possible day," Bucks guard O.J.
Mayo said. "They came out swinging, the came out punching and we
couldn't recover."
Along with being an absolute rout, the game -- just as the preceding
five in the series -- was chippy from the start.
Dunleavy sent Bucks point guard Michael Carter-Williams to the
locker room in the opening minutes with a shove to the face that
went unnoticed by the officials.
Carter-Williams returned late in the second quarter and finished
with three points on 1-of-6 shooting.
"My teeth are a little messed up," Carter-Williams said. "People
take cheap shots and you've got to go along with it."
Dunleavy found himself in a number of altercations throughout the
night.
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"It just got a little chippy, but I understand," Dunleavy said.
"You're down by a lot of points, it's not going well. Stuff happens.
We're just fortunate to come out with the win and happy to be moving
on."
He was on the receiving end late in the first half when Bucks
forward Giannis Antetokounmpo shoved him into the front row seats on
a 3-point attempt with 1:34 left.
Dunleavy was called for an offensive foul and Antetokounmpo was
slapped with a Flagrant-2 and an ejection.
"Wasn't very smart," said Kidd, who hadn't seen the play.
Next up for the Bulls is a second-round matchup with another Central
Division foe -- LeBron James and the Cavaliers, who have been
resting since finishing a four-game sweep of the Boston Celtics last
Sunday.
"Take it like every other series," Rose said. "They're a great team.
They've got a lot of experience on that team, a lot of young players
on that team that are willing to show people what they have, and
just got to be ready for them. You play against them, you know you
gotta get back. You've got to take momentum away, and it should be a
fun series."
NOTES: The Bucks were trying to become the fourth team in NBA
history to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games of a
playoff series. The 1951 Knicks, the 1994 Nuggets and 2003
Trailblazers all rallied to tie their series at 3-3, but no NBA team
has ever won a series after falling behind 3-0. ... Since reaching
the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001, Milwaukee has not advanced
past the first round. ... Chicago is 24-1 all time in playoffs
series after taking a 2-0 lead. ... PG Michael Carter-Williams was
in the Bucks' starting lineup. He rolled an ankle late in Game 5 but
returned to finish the game and reported no problems after practice
Tuesday and Wednesday.
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