Bucks Maul Hapless Bulls

Entering last night’s Game 3 between the Bulls & Bucks you could understand why Bulls Nation had reason for real optimism following the Bulls 114-110 Game 2 win. That optimism was buoyed by the news of Khris Middleton’s injury that would keep him out for the rest of this series. One could argue the Bulls should’ve been up 2-0 given the missed opportunities that led to their Game 1 loss.

All that hope and dreams of a deep playoff run were quickly dashed after the 1st quarter of Game 3. The Bucks jumped out to an early 10 point lead midway in the quarter with suffocating defense that the Bulls didn’t have an answer for. During that stretch the Bulls only attempted one shot inside of 10 feet. By the time the 1st quarter came to an end the Bulls were staring down the barrel of a 16-point deficit. Game. Set. Match.

The Bucks physically took the Bulls’ soul for the rest of the contest. A 19-point halftime deficit quickly ballooned to 30+ points. The Bulls shot 39% from the floor and 26% from 3-pt range. The Bulls were minus 12 on the boards, minus 16 in the paint and only attempted 10 FTs. That, my friends spells a recipe for disaster.

The Bulls 30-point loss was the worst home playoff loss in team history. The fact Bucks G/F and all-around bad guy Grayson Allen had a team high 22 points was unforgivable. Bucks PF Bobby Portis added 16pts & 13rebs while sporting cool goggles due to his eye injury. The Bulls were simply run off the floor and completely emasculated by the defending world champions. It’s now up to the Bulls to prove they belong on the biggest stage.

They Call Me Magic

Apple TV+ premiered the highly anticipated docu-series on Earvin “Magic” Johnson last night. I found the documentary to be highly entertaining, funny, gut-wrenching and informative. The docu-series featured appearances from basketball legends Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Jerry West, Pat Riley, James Worthy and Charles Barkley. Also appearing were Johnson’s family & friends. To the hardcore basketball fan most of the documentary wasn’t too revealing but what it did do was give 1st hand accounts of Magic’s incredible career and the ups & downs of his extraordinary life. Kudos to Magic Johnson for being candid about his relationship with his wife Cookie while he was playing and his relationship with his son EJ and how they dealt with EJ coming out.

You can catch the four part documentary exclusively on Apple TV+.

HBO’s Winning Time

As fans continue to marvel at the excellence that is Winning Time, not everyone is happy about it. Within the past week, Lakers’ legends Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Jerry West have blasted the HBO show for its inaccuracies and depictions of themselves in the series. Magic Johnson has also expressed he was not interested in seeing the series(given the scenes that were shown depicting Magic’s savagery I can understand why he wouldn’t be interested). Despite the objections the show continues to be a runaway hit. So popular is the show that HBO has already green-lit Season 2.

Episode 7 saw the Lakers deal with a number of distractions during their 3-game holiday road trips. After disappointing losses to the Pacers & Pistons the Lakers ended their road trip at the infamous Boston Garden with a game against Larry Legend & the Celtics. Paul Westhead questions his ability as coach, Dr. Buss wonders whether to keep Jack McKinney while he recovers from a devastating injury and the team(and Jerry West) question their resolve ahead of their game against their most bitter rival.

The series continues to take the viewer through all the twists and turns during their whirlwind 1979-80 season. It’s an incredible watch and I still contend it’s the best thing on TV today.

Final Thoughts

• The good folks over at Good Karma Wrestling talked about the upcoming AEW/NJPW joint PPV, The Forbidden Door and more AEW and WWE news on their latest podcast. Take a listen:

• Speaking of podcasts, Bulls Pre/Post-Game host Jason Goff broke down the monstrosity that was Game 3 between the Bulls & Bucks on the latest episode of The Full Go Podcast:

• The White Sox were blasted by the Twins 9-2 today and now their record drops to 6-8. They’ve lost 6 straight and are struggling to get their offense going. In those 6 straight losses, the White Sox have scored 3 runs or fewer. That type of offensive inefficiency is what has them in 4th place in the AL Central. Outside of Tim Anderson & Andrew Vaughn, no White Sox player with 30 or more ABs is hitting above .260 other than Gavin Sheets. It’s still very early so there is hope they can turn this around.

About Author