A true bipartisan crowd was present Wednesday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center to see the hometown Milwaukee Bucks take on the Bulls. The quality improved during the starting lineup when Derrick Rose was introduced after missing two games. What the fans got was far from perfect basketball, but there were plenty of bang-bang plays on both sides. In the end, the team from 85 miles south had a 95-86 victory.
The Bulls had trouble finding a defensive rhythm in the first half, resulting in a lot of the close baskets they surrendered in Tuesday's win against Orlando. The offense did its best to keep pace, although turnovers (four each from Rose and Jimmy Butler) would keep the score within striking distance throughout. Finally, the defense clamped down and the offense took advantage of several empty Bucks possessions. It showed what happens when a veteran team that knows how to win matches up against a very young roster still figuring things out.
It was another big night for the top two power forwards. Taj Gibson, starting again for the ill Joakim Noah, led all scorers with 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and just played with pure heart all night. Pau Gasol achieved another double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds. This string of double digits in two categories is repeating what Carlos Boozer did without the defensive issues.
Despite the aforementioned turnover numbers from Butler and Rose, they had respective points totals of 14 and 13 while dishing out seven assists apiece. Rose was clearly still favoring his two sprained ankles, but did well to facilitate the offense and even drove to the hoop fearlessly a few times. Mike Dunleavy rounded out the starting five scoring with 12, two of which came on a breakaway layup he probably could have dunked if he wanted to.
What we know about this Bulls team's capabilities cannot be ascertained properly when four of their five opponents so far have been lesser teams. But we can at least say they know how to close these particular clubs out. Whether they're cracking down on defense, playing smart on offense or drawing rookie mistakes (see Andrew Wiggins), this team is holding up its end of the bargain regarding preseason predictions.
As for Rose, we saw him suit up at a time when the doubters were starting to make noise about his fragile body again. When he went out in the first quarter, there was speculation that his body language on the bench indicated he was already finished. Instead, he played 31 minutes and had the Bulls fans in attendance chanting "MVP" by the time he got to the free-throw line late. The more we see of him, the more we'll be put at ease.
The young season will continue Friday when the Bulls travel east to play the Philadelphia 76ers. I shouldn't say this is already a victory, but they're playing a team that's not even trying right now. Time to put them in their place as the lowly club they're trying to be. In the meantime, the Philly fans can see a reminder of what winning basketball is.
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