Game 4 loss reveals much of the same for the Chicago Bulls

Another game against the Milwaukee Bucks, another loss for the Chicago Bulls, who rarely get a win against their division rival.

Now on the edge of elimination in Round 1 after dropping Game 4 by a score of 119-95, the Bulls have one last shot to show some fight before going home much earlier than they would have anticipated a couple months ago.

When the Bulls began to slide in February, the team got into the same bad habits that have revealed themselves so far during this series.

Quite frankly, no one should be surprised by Sunday’s performance if they have watched this Bulls team over the past eight weeks.

The Chicago Bulls proved exactly who they really are in their Game 4 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

For eight weeks now, the Bulls have been a team that has lacked a vocal leader, first and foremost. Many of us thought the Bulls had found one in Game 2 when Alex Caruso stepped up in the biggest way possible. Yet, here we are two games later looking at the Bulls down 3-1 and heading back to Milwaukee.

Sunday afternoon, the Bulls found themselves down by 15 at halftime, which felt like more of the norm. The third quarter saw the Bulls cut it to eight, only to see the Bucks storm back ahead well into a double-digit lead.

There were spurts where it appeared as though Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan were going to start getting aggressive, but for most of the game, it was the exact same strategy by Billy Donovan and the Bulls.

Pass, pass, pass, pass — and then, maybe someone takes the shot.

Or, LaVine or DeRozan would take two steps towards the lane before kicking it back out and refusing to finish.

Those were the offensive strategies deployed by the Bulls — again, not a surprise and nothing different than what we’ve seen lately.

The Bulls tried to rely heavily on their shooting, but failed to capitalize. Meanwhile, the Bucks were lights out from downtown and the Bulls continued to give them open looks. While being so focused on Giannis Antetokounmpo dominating the paint, the Bulls gave up three after three.

Milwaukee finished 17-of-33 from long distance.

The Bulls finished 25 percent from three-point range and shot just 38.9 percent for the game. It was a rather nauseating experience for fans to watch, and now Bulls fans will have to face the reality that this team is the real Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls began the season in first place, for much of the first half of the campaign. But, as time went on, we all saw that they weren’t capable of beating the best of each conference. LaVine and DeRozan are good enough to beat lesser opponents, but they fail to rise to the occasion when it’s against elite competition.

Assuming the Bulls don’t make a miraculous comeback this series, they are going to have tough decisions this summer. But, more on that when the time comes.