Bulls bounce Bucks by 54
The Chicago Bulls finally delivered a knockout blow to the Milwaukee Bucks — not literally, although it sure seemed to come close at times. And for all of Chicago’s star power, it was Mike Dunleavy in the middle of it all.
Dunleavy scored 20 points and the Bulls came close to an NBA playoff record, finally putting away the Bucks with a 120-66 victory in Game 6 to clinch their first-round series Thursday night in Milwaukee.
Dunleavy seemed to have his biggest impact away from the ball, getting under the young Bucks’ skins with physical play that drew retaliation.
“They had some momentum in the series, won a couple in a row,” Dunleavy said. “We came out on their court and put it on them. That’s frustrating. If anybody’s been there before, that’s frustrating, and I understand that.”
The Bulls, who move on to face Cleveland in the second round, finished four points from the NBA playoff record for largest margin of victory. Minnesota beat St. Louis, 133-75, in 1956.
“It looks a lot better when the ball goes in,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The thing you want to make sure of is, sometimes you don’t have control over when the ball goes in or doesn’t go in. If they are the right shots, you want to shoot them. You do have control over your intensity, your concentration.”
The game was over early, but still featured plenty of the intensity and bad blood that marked the first five games of the series. Dunleavy drew the call that led to the ejection of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo for a flagrant 2 foul just before halftime.
Pau Gasol scored 19 points and Jimmy Butler added 16 for the Bulls, who started the series with a 3-0 lead before two consecutive wins by the defensiveminded Bucks put them back in position to tie it. Notes The Oklahoma City Thunder hired the Florida Gators’ Billy Donovan as their coach, hoping he will help the franchise win an NBA championship. The 49-year-old Donovan led Florida to two national championships, four Final Fours, seven Elite Eights and 14 NCAA Tournament berths in 19 years.... Andrew Wiggins was named NBA rookie of the year. After coming to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland, Wiggins averaged