NBA: Bucks seal Playoffs vs Bulls, reach Eastern conference semifinals

Milwaukee Bucks won their Playoffs against Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, wrapping up the series in just five games. The number two seed in Eastern Conference will now meet Boston Celtics in the semifinals.

Boston Celtics sealed their spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals earlier this week after defeating Playoff rivals with a 4-0 clean sweep. The first semifinal game of the conference is scheduled for Sunday night in Boston.

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Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo took charge on Tuesday and rallied his team past the Bulls comfortably. The game ended with a score of 116-100. Antetokounmpo added 33 points and nine rebounds.

Bucks put their rivals in a tough spot since game number one, with the Bulls only being able to equalise once in the series. After three consecutive wins with an average margin of about 23 points, the Bucks have now sealed their spot.

All-Star player Khris Middleton has been missing from the Bucks squad for three games after a medial collateral ligament injury in his left knee during the fourth quarter of Game 2.

Chicago didn’t handle the loss of key players quite as well. The Bulls played without the starting backcourt they used for the first four games with two-time All-Star Zach LaVine in health and safety protocols and Alex Caruso in concussion protocol.

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The absences enabled Milwaukee’s defense to focus much of its attention on containing DeMar DeRozan, who had scored 41 points in the Bulls’ Game 2 victory. DeRozan was held to 11 points Wednesday while shooting 5 of 10.

Chicago outscored the Bucks 22-11 the rest of the second quarter and got the margin down to 11 on Ayo Dosunmu’s 3-point play with 9:32 left in the third quarter, but Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis hit a pair of corner 3-pointers 36 seconds apart to make it 72-55.