Bucks’ recent surge fueled by strong defensive play

Head coach Jason Kidd’s team has given up just 89.0 points per game over the last two games.

Chicago forward Taj Gibson gave the Milwaukee Bucks a backhanded compliment after the Bulls fell 94-88 in Game 5 at the United Center.

“At times we think we’re a little too good,” forward Taj Gibson said. “You look at how our team was made up over the last couple years, we were defensive-minded. We was always a team with an edge, understanding our defense was first. It’s sad to see another team is beating us the same way.”

In other words, the Bulls, one of the best defensive teams in the NBA under head coach Tom Thibodeau, are struggling against a team that embodies what made Chicago so successful: defense.

Although the Bucks gave up an average of 102.3 points per game over the first three games of the series, Milwaukee has rebounded nicely in the last two, holding the Bulls to 90 points in Game 4 and 88 points in Game 5. Moreover, Chicago is shooting just 40.5 percent from the field (35.0 percent from 3-point range) over the past two games after averaging 43.1 percent from the field (38.8 percent from beyond the arc) through the first three.

So how has Milwaukee been able to lock down defensively and decrease Chicago’s series lead from 3-0 to 3-2? Here are the reasons the Bucks’ recent defensive play has given the Bulls fits.

The Rise of the Freak

Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had four blocks through the first four games of the series, but the Greek Freak was an absolute terror defensively in Game 5. Standing 6 feet 11 inches tall with a 7-foot-5-inch wingspan (according to Ricky O’Donnell of SB Nation), Antetokounmpo blocked four shots in the Bucks’ victory Monday night, three in the final seven minutes of the game including a big one on Bulls point guard Derrick Rose to seal the victory for Milwaukee.

Size and Length

Antetokounmpo isn’t the only Bucks player with extraordinary length. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams, who stands 6 feet 6 inches tall with a 6-foot-7-inch wingspan, and center John Henson (also 6 feet 11 inches tall with a 7-foot-5-inch wingspan) have also wreaked havoc on the defensive end of the floor. Carter-Williams had arguably the best game of his career on Monday, scoring 22 points on 10 of 15 shooting with nine assists, eight rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot. Henson was a force in the paint in Game 4, blocking four shots and earning one steal in 25 minutes.

Forcing Turnovers

Milwaukee has forced an average of 17.2 Bulls turnovers per game in the series (4.0 more than Chicago’s regular season average), and much of these are caused by the Bucks’ combination of height and length. Head coach Jason Kidd’s squad is also averaging 12.4 steals per game, 2.8 more than its average during the regular season. A majority of the Bulls’ turnovers are coming from Rose, who had six in Game 5 and is averaging 4.8 per game in the series. The former MVP’s burst has come and gone since returning from his second torn meniscus, and without the quickness that made him special, Carter-Williams’ length will continue to haunt him as the series progresses.