Bulls Seal Win Against Bucks In Double OT, Take 3-0 Series Lead
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Derrick Rose scored 34 points, Jimmy Butler added 24 and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 113-106 in double overtime on Thursday night to take a 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Butler got the second overtime off to a rousing start, intercepting a backcourt pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo and racing in for a layup. It set the tone for an 8-0 run that gave Chicago a 109-101 lead with 2:44 left to finally shake the pesky Bucks.
Rose atoned for a missed free throw with 4 seconds left in regulation that left the game tied. He scored six points in the second overtime, including a layup off an offensive rebound with 2:15 left for a 10-point lead.
Antetokounmpo had 25 points and Khris Middleton added 18 for Milwaukee, which went scoreless for more than 6 minutes between the first and second overtimes.
The Bulls will go for the sweep on Saturday in Game 4 in Milwaukee. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.
Chicago appeared to have wrapped up the game with 2:50 left in regulation after Tony Snell hit his second straight 3 for a 94-84 lead, rousing an often Bulls-friendly crowd. The Bradley Center at times felt like a northern outpost for Bulls fans who made the barely 90-minute drive from Chicago.
But the young Bucks didn't quit and their fans backed them up, too.
Middleton had eight points over the final 1:27 of regulation, including a floater with 10 seconds left that gave the Bucks a 95-94 lead. Rose went 1 of 2 from the free throw line, and Middleton missed a 27-footer at the other end to send the game into overtime.
It was a fitting stretch run to a wildly entertaining game featuring one of the East's standard-bearers against the scrappy upstarts from Milwaukee.
Rose carried the Bulls for much of the second half, getting a big assist off the bench from Snell as Chicago built a late 10-point lead. The Bucks blew an 18-point lead in the second quarter.
It was hard to believe that Chicago trailed 49-31 with 4:03 left in the second quarter.
But the Bulls closed the half with an 18-4 spurt to get within 53-49. Former Bulls forward Scottie Pippen rooted them on courtside.
"Love the fight in this Bulls team to close out the half. A little adversity on the road will do you some good," the Hall of Famer posted on Twitter at halftime.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Six-foot-10 forward Nikola Mirotic sat out as expected with an injured left knee. ... G Kirk Hinrich, who was questionable with a left knee injury, played 6 minutes. ... Rose was 5 of 7, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, for 13 points in the first half.
Bucks: The bench gave the Bucks a huge lift in a 22-4 run in the second quarter that helped them open the short-lived 18-point lead. Jared Dudley led the reserves with 10 points in the half on 4-of-4 shooting. ... Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver Randall Cobb were at the game, sitting on the baseline across from the Bucks bench. ... Former team owner and U.S. Senator Herb Kohl attended the game in his usual seat, about four rows up on center court.
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