Miami Makes History, LOL Grayson Allen, Bulls Pass the Torch, and Other Bulls Bullets
Jimmy Butler will face Tom Thibodeau (and, technically, Derrick Rose) in the second round of the 2023 NBA playoffs.
What a sentence.
- As I’ve mentioned numerous times before in these bullets, my significant other is a massive Milwaukee Bucks fan. So to say the vibes were a bit rough in our house last night would be an understatement! I’m not going to lie, it’s not like I was jumping up and down for the Bucks to lose. I always enjoy a competitive series, and I was sure hoping that this would turn into that for sheer entertainment value. Instead, this turned out to be a pretty brutal series to take in.
- Watching the Bucks repeatedly fail to make adjustments against an extremely limited Heat team was dumbfounding. And, again, I say this as merely a basketball fan. How do you not throw Giannis at Jimmy? Why wasn’t Brook Lopez in the game on the final possession of regulation? Why didn’t you call a timeout before Grayson Allen threw away your season? I mean, this was a big YIKES series from Milwaukee, so much so that Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t help but question some of his team’s decision-making after the game:
- I say this as a Bulls fan: You love to see tension up north! I have to imagine there are some very serious conversations being had about head coach Mike Budenholzer’s future. Likewise, Milwaukee will have some big decisions to make when it comes to the free agency of guys like Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez. Of course, as long as Antetokounmpo is in town, this team isn’t going anywhere. But I sure don’t mind seeing this East juggernaut and central division foe hit a pretty sizable speed bump.
- I also sure didn’t mind seeing Grayson Allen screw everything up! Sucks to suck, my dude!
- Seriously, how the heck do you not get a shot off? I can’t think of a more embarrassing way for a do-or-die game to end. Allen also had SO MUCH room to get off a decent floater or mid-range jumper. I guess the basketball gods just knew it was time to give Allen a nice glass of karma!
- As far as first-round performances go, this one will go in the history books for Jimmy G. Buckets (the “G” stands for gets). He averaged 37.9 points per game on 59.7 percent shooting from the field during this gentleman’s sweep of the top seed in the NBA. Once again, I know it was half a decade ago, but why did the Bulls have to trade this man!?
- This is the epitome of Butler:
- Milwaukee was in a prime position to pull off the victory for the second-straight game. What did they do? Allow a historic comeback. Who are they, the 2022-23 Bulls!?
- On one hand, I think this is a tremendous response and a wise lesson from Antetokounmpo. Why view something as a failure when you can view it as a way to grow? On the other hand, there is no doubt that the Bucks should be embarrassed by this loss. The season doesn’t necessarily have to be considered a “failure,” but it does have to be considered an inflection point.
- I’m thrilled the Bulls were able to pass the “most recent 1v8 upset” torch to the Bucks! The last time we saw this happen, of course, was in 2012 when the 76ers went on to beat the 1-seeded Bulls after “you know what” happened to Derrick Rose. While Chicago still should have had enough talent to take down that Philly team, we all know how demoralizing losing Rose was. As for Milwaukee, I know Antetokounmpo missed two games and hurt his back, but that’s not anywhere close to watching your best player tear his ACL. So, yeah, this series loss should be considered WAY more embarrassing for the Bucks. Yay!
- The new CBA is official, by the way!
- In other depressing news, the Knicks have returned to relevancy before the Bulls. Ugh.
- Give me the best OL or trade back!
- I want chaos!
