The Chicago Bulls boiled over in the second half of a 113-97 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, giving up a slew of technical and flagrant fouls as they stumbled into a 16-point blowout.
It was always going to be a contentious game. The United Center was sold out for a late-night special, including a thunderous contingent of Milwaukee Bucks fans. And the opposing roster was filled with familiar faces – Patrick Beverley and Bobby Portis – who were guaranteed to rile up fans and players.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan said he could feel the discontent brewing in the first quarter, cautioning the officials to get the physicality under control to avoid unnecessary fouls. But the game remained tense until the final 31 seconds of the third quarter, when the Bulls lost control — and, in the process, the game.
The meltdown started when DeMar DeRozan took offense to Portis staring him down after a play. It was a brief moment, but it was enough to prompt an immediate response from DeRozan, who had been vocal in a chippy night of basketball.
DeRozan went at Portis, ramming into the forward in the open court. The foul earned a flagrant 1 violation – and an ensuing argument from DeRozan resulted in a technical foul.
“As long as I play the game, I’m big on respect,” DeRozan said. “I don’t play the whole games, staring down somebody, trying to disrespect nobody. I’m all about competing, doing your thing, but if I feel anything is disrespectful in any type of way, I don’t accept that.
“I wouldn’t do that to nobody else. It’s just my respect of the game.”
DeMar took umbrage somewhat with Bobby Portis standing over him after one play tonight: “I’m big on respect.” pic.twitter.com/HbRGfvFKCX
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) March 2, 2024
The break between quarters could have cooled things off between both teams. Instead, the tension escalated in the ensuing three minutes of game time.
Alex Caruso picked up a technical foul for arguing with the referees within the first 70 seconds of the fourth quarter. And 90 seconds later, Nikola Vučević took out his frustration on A.J. Green, swinging his hands into the Bucks guard as he attempted a layup, earning a flagrant 2 foul and an ejection.
At that point, it was over for the Bulls. They were already struggling against the staggering size of the Bucks, whose frontcourt is led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez. With Vučević out of commission, the Bulls had little left to slow the onslaught in the paint.
“It was just a little frustration,” Vučević said. “Not just the no-calls, just built up from us having a little bit of a rough game. That was just tough. We felt like we were doing some pretty good things. We just let our frustrations get the best of us for a little bit.”
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
1. Patrick Beverley acts as an instigator
Few things are more consistent than Beverley’s presence at the start and end of a scuffle on the court.
The former Bull helped spark frustrations in the second half, draping himself over DeRozan on defense and chirping at opponents during every dead ball.
And he relished in the aftermath of the technicals and ejection, scoring eight consecutive points in the fourth quarter before turning to Bulls fans to shout “This is my city” as he walked back to the Bucks bench. Beverley’ clapped loudly at every foul called against the Bulls and hit the “too small” gesture on rookie Julian Phillips in back-to-back plays.
“We know him,” DeRozan said after the loss. “That’s Pat. We let our own frustration take over everything else. It kind of seemed like we was directing it towards one person specifically on their team and we just thought we weren’t getting good calls.”
DeMar DeRozan on confrontation with Patrick Beverley tonight: “We know him. That’s Pat… We let our frustration take over everything else. It kind of seemed like we was directing it towards one person specifically on their team and we just thought we weren’t getting good calls.” pic.twitter.com/Q7cdpi5XNu
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) March 2, 2024
2. Shooting remains stagnant
The Bulls aren’t much of a 3-point shooting team, but improvements in consistency from players like Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu have helped to close the margins on offense this season. Those improvements have stalled out, however, as the Bulls struggle through a shooting slump after the All-Star break.
Friday’s performance was a slight step forward as the Bulls went 11-for-27 from 3-point range; White was 2-for-5 and Caruso shot 3-for-6 from behind the arc. But the Bulls are still performing below their pre-All Star average of 11.8 makes from 3-point range per game.
3. A diminished milestone
It was mostly a night to forget for DeRozan, who showed signs of wear-and-tear from playing more minutes than any other player in the NBA this season besides White. He finished with 12 points and nine assists, sitting for most of the fourth quarter for some much-needed rest.
But the game also included a small piece of history for DeRozan, who became the 35th player in NBA history to reach 23,000-career points. He is one of only six active players to reach the milestone.
