MILWAUKEE (WSAU-TSN) After Bucks coach Jason Kidd was awarded a timeout with 1.3 seconds remaining, Jerryd Bayless made a layup at the buzzer to keep Milwaukee alive in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Chicago Bulls.
Jared Dudley got the assist on a perfectly constructed inbounds play that gave the Bucks a 92-90 victory over the Bulls in Game 4.
With a chance to wrap up the series for Chicago, Derrick Rose turned the ball over. Khris Middleton was going the other way with the ball when Kidd called a timeout. The officials then put 1.3 seconds on the clock before the Bucks drew up a perfect inbounds play, with Bayless cutting to the basket and Dudley lobbing a pass over the defense for the winning layup as time expired.
O.J. Mayo made four 3-pointers en route to 18 points for the Bucks, who won their first playoff game in five years. Dudley tallied 13 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Bayless each had 10 points.
Jimmy Butler ended with a playoff career-high 33 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls, who were done in by 28 turnovers. Rose was limited to 14 points after scoring 34 points in Chicago’s 113-106, double-overtime victory in Game 3.
Pau Gasol recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who will try to close out the series again Monday in Chicago.
Trailing 87-79 with 4:40 to play, Rose made a layup and Butler connected from beyond the arc. Mayo made a desperation 3-pointer in between, but the basket was called off after a review.
Mayo made up for it with another 3-pointer to put the Bucks ahead 90-84 with 1:42 left. But the Bulls tied things up on Rose’s 3-pointer and Gasol’s three- point play with 38.4 seconds remaining.
Bayless missed a layup before Rose turned the ball over.
The Bulls shot 52.9 percent from the field in the first quarter en route to a 23-19 lead.
Taj Gibson’s layup and Nikola Mirotic’s 3-pointer put Chicago ahead 28-19 less than a minute into the second. After Milwaukee responded with a 27-6 run to take a 12-point lead, the Bulls ended the half on a 16-4 spurt. Butler tallied 12 points during the surge, including a banked 3-pointer near the halftime buzzer, to make it 50-50.
The Bucks led 73-71 following a third quarter that featured eight lead changes and three ties.
