There’s a reason the Bucks went from NBA laughingstock to No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference — defense.
Last season their ”D” ranked dead last in efficiency. This season, second. It was a remarkable transformation that speaks to Jason Kidd’s coaching, the Feb. 19 acquisition of Michael Carter-Williams and young, rangy players such as Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmp.
“We know they’re very athletic,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “They play hard. They turn you over. That could be a problem.”
Thibodeau uttered those words before his Bulls shellacked the Bucks 103-91 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with an offensive uprising that had to leave their opponents wondering what happened. The Bucks’ on-court reactions said as much.
They looked flummoxed when Antetokounmp allowed Aaron Brooks to pick up a loose ball, dribble toward the corner and nail an uncontested 3-pointer to end the first quarter.
Antetokounmp clapped his hands in frustration after Nikola Mirotic dropped a 3-pointer on him. And after Mike Dunleavy hit an open jumper in the third, Ersan Ilyasova raised his arms as if to question why no one switched off to the Bulls sharpshooter.
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The carnage added up to this remarkable stat: In the 16 regular-season quarters played between the teams this season, the Bulls failed to crack 30 points once.
They hit that mark in the first quarter Saturday. And again in the second.
Kidd said his team tricked itself with a hot start — 10 points in the game’s first two-plus minutes.
“That first quarter was fool’s gold,” Kidd said. “We fell in a trap of thinking we could outscore them and not play defense.”
The Bulls hit 20 of their first 34 shots — with 16 assists. The prettiest assist came when Pau Gasol lobbed to Jimmy Butler near the rim, and Butler tipped to Joakim Noah for the slam.
Minutes later, Gasol fed Taj Gibson for a slam. The impressive part was that he did it from his backside.
So maybe it was simply the Bulls’ night to shine offensively.
Derrick Rose certainly left his mark. He went 1-for-13 the last time he faced the Bucks, on Feb. 23. He hit 9 of 16 shots Sunday. Rose went 6-for-8 in the first half, perfect inside the 3-point arc. Carter-Williams obviously took note, sluffing off Rose in the third quarter.
Rose, who made just 28 percent from long range in his 51-game regular season, drilled a 3 for a 69-59 lead. Then another, this one contested by Carter-Williams. Then a third, this one after Carter-Williams lazily put up one hand.
“Derrick Rose hitting those 3s changed the game,” Bucks forward John Henson said.
Said Kidd: “He made 3s late in the (shot) clock; you have to live with that. It’s probably better than him getting to the rim in the first half without much resistance. Whenever you do that, the basket is big (for jumpers) and he knocked them down.”
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein