#3 Chicago Bulls (50-32) vs. #6 Milwaukee Bucks (41-41):
The Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks meet as division foes, which means that both of these teams know each other as well as possible. The Bulls won the season series 3-1, giving them great confidence that they can make quick work of the Bucks. In addition, the Bulls come into this series healthy, with only Kirk Hinrich unable to go in Game 1. The only thing that has been holding this Bulls team back over the years has been injuries and with all their key guys now healthy, they appear prime to make a serious run for a championship.
The bottom line when it comes to analyzing these two teams is that when looking at the rosters, the Bulls are the superior team by a wide margin. Derrick Rose is still one of the best point guards in the NBA, Pau Gasol is one of the best big men, Jimmy Butler might be the best shooting guard in the Eastern Conference, and Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah both crash the glass as well as anybody.
The Bulls also have some nice role players in Nikola Mirotic, Aaron Brooks, Mike Dunleavy, and Tony Snell. The Bulls have the talent in the starting lineup and the depth on the bench to give plenty of teams trouble. As a matter of fact, it has been their depth that has kept them afloat during the course of all their injuries.
As for the Bucks, the talent is certainly there, but they are still very young and inexperienced. Michael Carter-Williams and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who are the leaders of this team, have never played in the playoffs before and will have a lot of trouble competing against a battle-tested team like the Bulls. In addition, their key franchise centerpiece Jabari Parker is done for the season with a torn ACL.
Even though they are "role players" O.J. Mayo, Zaza Pachulia, and Ersan Illyasova have to lead out on this team given their playoff experience. They will have to step up and play better than they usually do if they want their team to have any chance of winning the series. What's going to make that tough on them is the fact that the Bulls are a very good defensive team. It will be hard for any of those guys to really have a big night.
Probably the x-factor as far as the Bucks are concerned is Khris Middleton. He's one of the few guys on their team who can really light it up from beyond the arc and go bananas. In addition to their veterans hitting shots, the Bucks will really need to try their very best to get Khris Middleton into a rhythm. If he can get going and start knocking down some shots, the Bucks could make things interesting.
All the same, the Bulls are still a vastly superior team. They rebound, defend, and have guys who can score in the clutch. The Bulls have a team that is built to win a championship while the Bucks are still a long ways off from being a serious championship threat. It would be a huge upset if the Bucks won this series given the gaps in talent and experience between the two teams. I see the Bulls winning this series in 5 games.
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA news
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