Chicago Sports

There is no shame in losing to a better team, and we can all agree the Bucks are better than the Bulls after another 119-95 wipeout at the United Center in Game 4 of the teams’ best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

The defending champions of the NBA — now one win from the second round, with Game 5 set for Wednesday in Milwaukee — are better than the Bulls in much the same way that lounging in the sun is better than drowning in an avalanche, a warm hug is better than a knee to the groin and pizza is better than no pizza.

Which is to say, it’s not even close.

But didn’t we all know this already? We should have, considering the Bucks have been headbutting the Bulls and stuffing them into a locker since 2017, but then Game 2 came along. In that game, the Bulls actually managed to — get this — not lose for once, causing a lot of us to feel something resembling hope.

After the Bulls lost by a combined 54 points in Games 3 and 4 — on their own turf, no less — there might as well have been a ceremonial burning of that hope in the UC parking lot. There’s no shame in losing to a better team, but there is in pretending the Bucks are anything less than levels above the Bulls; not just better but in a different league. These teams could run best-of-seven series back three times, five times, 10 times, and the squad with the better talent, size, experience, depth, discipline and togetherness would just keep winning.

Is there even any point to this Game 5 business?

“Just stay positive,” DeMar DeRozan said. “First and foremost, you can’t show panic. Especially veteran guys, you can’t show panic. You’ve got to understand that where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Sorry, but nope. Where there’s a series between a champion capable of repeating and an upstart that hasn’t known the first thing about “up” since before the All-Star break, there’s no way.

And another thing: There’s no shame in Zach LaVine saying, as he did in February, that he and DeRozan were “the best duo in the NBA.” It’s great to believe in oneself and one’s teammates like that, and back then — when the Bulls actually had the best record in the league — it sounded mighty good even if it wasn’t all that convincing.

But it would be inexcusable for the Bulls front office, led by Arturas Karnisovas, to proceed into the future without fully embracing the reality of the moment — which is that DeRozan is wearing down in this rugged series and LaVine is still closer to borderline All-Star than he is to superstar. Would you rather have DeRozan and LaVine or the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who are young, versatile and curb-stomping everything in their path? There’s only one answer. Would you rather have Giannis Antetokounmpo and, say, a Bucks social-media intern? Please, take all the time you need.

Meanwhile, there’s no shame in booing Grayson Allen — cursing the day he was born might be a tad over the top — but there is in being unable to admit he’s the best player coming off the bench for either team in this series and that the Bulls would be incredibly lucky to have one or two guys just like him.

Be honest: Do you see Alex Caruso out there stroking threes, finishing athletic drives and getting under the skin of the opposition like Allen? Yet Caruso is a Bulls team leader and fan favorite, further indicative of the gap between these two teams.

There’s no shame in Bulls coach Billy Donovan not knowing where to turn for answers when his team is too small, not physically strong enough, far from skilled enough off the bench and with key players who are just coming (Ayo Dosunmu) or perhaps never should’ve come (Tristan Thompson) or probably have no business being here much longer (Coby White). Is there a twosome among the Bulls’ non-starters that you’d take over any two dudes in the Bucks’ rotation? The whole thing is a mismatch.

But it would be dead wrong not to demand better from Donovan, too. After all, he hasn’t gotten out of the first round of the playoffs since his first year in Oklahoma City. This almost certainly will be his fifth straight loss by first-round knockout. Two of those losses came with Russell Westbrook and Paul George on his side.

“I think that we just need to fight and stay with it,” LaVine said. “Once they give a punch, we have to respond each and every time, not just once or twice.”

Once Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis’ brother and teammate, is on the floor, the last punches have been thrown and there will be no getting off the mat for the team that’s behind. Not that Thanasis is particularly good at this thing called basketball. He’s not in the Bucks’ regular rotation. No, he checks in — as he eventually did in Games 3 and 4 — only after a thorough beating has been rendered.

The Bucks have it all, even a family member of the best player in the world who is part brother, part mascot, part death knell for the other team. The Bulls? They have another game to lose. And then maybe the champs can go pick on somebody their own size.

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The Cubs played an almost-perfect game Saturday.

Sunday wasn’t as good.

With a chance to split the four-game series, the Cubs lost 4-3 to the Pirates. A day after the 23-hit outburst and seven scoreless innings from starter Kyle Hendricks in the historic 21-0 rout, the Cubs were forced to use their bullpen after starter Justin Steele struggled through three innings. The offense went just 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position and the defense also fell back, as shortstop Jonathan Villar was charged with one error and could’ve had another.

Left fielder Ian Happ’s eighth-inning homer off Heath Hembree pulled the Cubs to within a run and five relievers combined to throw six innings and give up one unearned run, but neither kept the Cubs from losing for the fifth time in six games.

Steele, who only lasted 2 2/3 innings during his April 19 start against the Rays, batted his command, allowing three runs and four hits while walking four. But he was given the lead early, as the Cubs offense (and Pirates infield defense) momentarily picked up where they left off Saturday.

After designated hitter Rafael Ortega led off with a double off the basket, he came around to score when Pittsburgh third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes missed a grounder from catcher Willson Contreras. On Saturday, Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman made two errors during the Cubs’ eight-run second. This inning wasn’t as prolific for the Cubs, though they did take a 2-0 advantage when first baseman Frank Schwindel singled in Contreras.

Pittsburgh cut Steele’s lead in half in the second when left fielder Ben Gamel drove in first baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo with a single to right. The Pirates jumped in front in the third and also ended Steele’s day. Tsutsugo’s sacrifice fly tied the game, and then Newman doubled in Hayes.

Villar, playing shortstop with Nico Hoerner resting, had an adventurous fourth in the field. First, he mishandled right fielder Diego Castillo’s grounder and was originally charged with an error before a scoring change. He did get tagged with one when his throw on a Hayes chopper was wide of Schwindel, allowing Castillo to score. Villar has made four of the Cubs’ seven errors this year.

The Cubs had a chance to get back into the game in the seventh when pinch-hitter Alfonso Rivas doubled and Pirates second baseman Michael Chavis misjudged a Patrick Wisdom pop-up for a single to begin the inning. But Pirates reliever Wil Crowe recovered to strike out second baseman Nick Madrigal looking, get Ortega to pop out and induce right fielder Seiya Suzuki to fly out to center.

Happ’s homer, his first of the year, cut the Pirates lead in the eighth. Pittsburgh reliever Chris Stratton kept the inning alive when he fielded Villar’s grounder but threw the ball away for a two-base error. Rivas was intentionally walked before Wisdom struck out swinging to leave two runners on.

Facing Pirates closer David Bednar, Ortega doubled with one out. Suzuki then blooped one over first and reached second, moving Ortega to third. Contreras struck out swinging, and Happ was intentionally walked to load the bases before Schwindel struck out to end the game.

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It wasn’t “Minnesota Pat.”

Then again, the Bulls don’t need Patrick Williams to be the player that scored a career-high 35 in the season finale against the Timberwolves a few weeks back.

The guy that scored just one point in Game 3, however? That can’t happen.

That’s why there had to be some small sigh of relief with Williams’ Sunday performance, in which the No. 4 overall pick from the 2020 draft had seven first-half points on 3-for-7 shooting, and stayed aggressive to finish with an impressive 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Game 4 loss.

“When you have [teammates] telling you that you work too hard to hang your head or stop shooting, it just means the world to know that those guys have your back,” Williams said of the turnaround.

Does that mean he can be counted on for Game 5? Not exactly, as coach Billy Donovan admitted that he’s a player they definitely have to stay on about aggressiveness and decision making when it comes to his shot. And not just a few times a week, but daily.

“[This is] probably in a lot of ways a lot different than he’s played his whole entire life,” Donovan said of Williams. “That’s not to sit there and say that a certain points and time in his life that he wasn’t physical and dominant, a really good player, but he wasn’t a guy that as a freshman at Florida State was getting 25 every night, and the ball was being just directed to him and he was doing all that stuff. This is part of his evolution, this is part of his development, and it’s something that’s probably new for him.

“So does he need constant encouragement, dialogue, film? All the time. But I’m fine with it because he’s a great guy and he wants to get better, he wants to improve. I think that’s the hardest part for him – finding when and where all those opportunities are and how do I attack? And he sees it more after the moment more so than in the moment.”

The best example of how effective he actually can be in this offense came in the third, when the Bulls started to make a run at the Bucks. Williams was aggressive both with a pull-up jumper and from long range – which Milwaukee has given the 20-year-old the entire series.

His eight third-quarter points helped turn a 22-point deficit into just eight at one point.

And while it would make life easier for the organization if Williams’ latest performance would resonate with him and carry forward, that’s just not his make-up. A characteristic Donovan admitted that the organization knew when they drafted him.

“Obviously the size, the physicality, the athleticism, we all understood there would be a process for him,” Donovan said. “That he wasn’t just going to come onto the scene and take over. That this was going to be a development thing for him. But I don’t think that from the information that I had gotten before the draft even took place that after being with him going on two years, that there is anything at all that’s surprised me. From all the intel and the work, we knew exactly what we were getting.”

Caru-Show cancelled

Alex Caruso left the game in the second quarter after taking an unintentional blow to the face from Jevon Carter, and did not return.

According to Donovan, he was still being tested in the concussion protocol at the conclusion of the loss, but since he was begging to try to get back into the game after the injury, the coach was hoping it wasn’t too serious.

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CHICAGO — Bulls guard Alex Caruso exited in the second quarter of Game 4 on Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Bucks after getting hit in the face by an inadvertent elbow from Bucks guard Jevon Carter.

Caruso was fighting through a screen set by Giannis Antetokounmpo when Carter’s elbow hit him on the nose with 1:44 remaining in the second quarter. Caruso fell to the floor and was bleeding from his nose before coming out of the game.

Ayo Dosunmu started the second half in place of Caruso before the Bulls eventually announced that Caruso would not return with a facial injury. Caruso was being examined for a possible concussion during the second half, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Caruso did not score but contributed four assists, four rebounds, a steal and two blocks in 17 minutes during the first half of Game 4.

Earlier this season, Caruso fractured his left wrist after a flagrant foul from Grayson Allen during a Jan. 21 game against the Bucks that would sideline for the next two months.

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History is filled with surprises, and an intriguing one underlies Chicago Opera Theater’s world premiere of “Quamino’s Map,” which opened Saturday evening at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building.

It turns out that thousands of enslaved Americans fought on the side of the British in the Revolutionary War with the promise of freedom and a pension across the Atlantic Ocean when the hostilities ceased.

Belizean-born British composer Errollyn Wallen and American librettist Deborah Brevoort took this virtually unknown historical episode and ran with it, creating a 90-minute opera loosely based on S.I. Martin’s “Incomparable World: A Novel.” Despite its compact running time, it is a large-scale work with 29 singers in the cast and chorus and a 40-piece pit orchestra.

At its heart, “Quamino’s Map” is a story of ultimately impossible love between Juba Freeman (tenor Curtis Bannister), a formerly enslaved man who has just arrived in England, and Amelia Alumond (soprano Flora Hawk), a bighearted member of London’s Black gentry.

But more broadly, the opera examines the notion of freedom, not just from physical enslavement but also from societal and economic encumbrances, issues that all the main characters face in one way or another.

Nowhere is this truer than for Freeman, who journeys to London thinking that he has escaped slavery only to discover a new set of shackles: the British reneging on their promise of a pension and a law banning new Black arrivals from work.

It is a fresh, engrossing story told in an intelligent and often captivating way. But at the same time, this narrative comes off as a little too easy. That Freeman arrives in London, becomes engaged with a rich woman and is nearly hanged for thievery seemingly all within a matter of a couple of weeks stretches the bounds of believability.

And it is hard to accept the opera’s upbeat conclusion. Quamino Dolly (bass-baritone Damien Geter), an ex-slave and now mapmaker (a metaphorical flourish) who becomes Freeman’s protector, encourages the new arrival to chart a new future by pursuing his love of fiddling. He scraps together enough money to buy the young man an instrument, but how does this help if employment is impossible?

Stage director Kimille Howard makes the most of this fast-paced story, maintaining a sense of continuity and nicely energizing the ensemble scenes, especially those in London’s red-light district.

Designer Steven Kemp’s scenery is simple but effective enough. The opera opens at the London docks, which is suggested via brick building walls on each side with an angled ramp running between them and an enlarged historical map of London as a backdrop. With just a few added set pieces and changes in lighting, this arrangement adequately accommodates the changes in settings.

Wallen has written 22 operas, and it’s clear here that she knows what she is doing in this appealing score, with its compelling melodic lines and lush, ever-variegated orchestrations, all nicely realized by conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson.

What is most impressive is Wallen’s ability to shift styles one scene to the next, from harpsichord and baroque effects for the Alumonds’ high-society gatherings to Broadway-tinged numbers for the red-light scenes, with jazzy riffs, blues hints and hard dissonances along the way. The only thing lacking is just a bit more emotional depth, which might have been provided by more traditional, full-bodied arias instead of what often comes off as extended recitatives.

Chicago Opera Theater put together a strong cast, starting with Bannister, a focused, technically secure singer who possesses the stage presence to anchor this production and the acting chops to convey both Freeman’s joy and pathos.

More than holding her own with him is Hawk, who lights up the role of Amelia with her strong, radiant soprano voice. One of the opera’s high points is when she shows up late for an engagement party, and Wallen humorously conveys a quarrel between Amelia and her mother, Grace, and sister, Elizabeth (ably portrayed by soprano Kimberly E. Jones and soprano Joelle Lamarre respectively), with zingy exchanges of exaggerated, baroque-style vocal ornamentations that require some impressive vocal dexterity to pull off.

Geter’s resonant, sure voice serves the role of Quamino well, but it is odd that the character is described as an “old man” at one point, but no effort is made in terms of his bearing or his look to suggest his age.

Other standouts include mezzo-soprano Leah Dexter, who makes the most of her showy role as the whimsical dominatrix Mistress Paddington, and tenor Tyrone Chambers II. He animates the role of Dele Piebald, a mysterious beggar who is also a kind of seer who intervenes in this story.

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Billy Donovan laid out a simple goal for his Bulls players on Sunday.

“Weather” the storm.

“You want to keep pace with teams, but there’s going to be these swings in games,” the Bulls coach said. “It can’t bleed into where it builds up and we start pressing on offense. Where every shot becomes critically important. We have to be able to handle the emotional swings in games.”

That was yet another fail for this roster, as Milwaukee again beat the Bulls in their own backyard, 119-95.

And now the weather moving forward is very cloudy.

The Bulls will face elimination on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series to the defending NBA champions.

They only have themselves to blame.

The first quarter? They checked the boxes they needed to, keeping the United Center crowd into it, and trailing by just three. Zach LaVine looked engaged and his old athletic self with 12 points in the quarter, the defense was doing a better job accounting for shooters, and Giannis Antetokounmpo was held to a quiet five points.

The one disturbing trend? Grayson Allen again feeling way too comfortable with his offense. After lighting up the Bulls for 22 in Game 3, Allen got loose in that opening stanza on Sunday for two baskets, setting the scene on what was to come.

What came was Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Bulls fans finishing with 27 points on 10-for-12 shooting, including 6-of-7 from three.

The same Allen who altered the entire regular season for the Bulls when his Flagrant-2 tackle of Alex Caruso left the best defender on the roster sidelined for months with a fractured right wrist.

Now he was inflicting pain again, this time with his shooting.

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CHICAGO — Bulls guard Alex Caruso exited in the second quarter of Game 4 on Sunday afternoon against the Milwaukee Bucks after getting hit in the face by an inadvertent elbow from Bucks guard Jevon Carter.

Caruso was fighting through a screen set by Giannis Antetokounmpo when Carter’s elbow hit him on the nose with 1:44 remaining in the second quarter. Caruso fell to the floor and was bleeding from his nose before coming out of the game.

Ayo Dosunmu started the second half in place of Caruso before the Bulls eventually announced that Caruso would not return with a facial injury. Caruso was being examined for a possible concussion during the second half, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Caruso did not score but contributed four assists, four rebounds, a steal and two blocks in 17 minutes during the first half of Game 4.

Earlier this season, Caruso fractured his left wrist after a flagrant foul from Grayson Allen during a Jan. 21 game against the Bucks that would sideline for the next two months.

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Righty Alec Mills (low back strain) made his first rehab appearance Saturday at Triple-A Iowa, throwing three innings and allowing three earned runs. Mills, who was back at Wrigley Field on Sunday, called the outing a “step in the right direction.” Importantly, he said he got through the appearance without feeling anything.

Mills is expected to make another rehab start later this week, but he didn’t want to put an exact timetable on his return to the Cubs.

“I feel good,” Mills said. “I obviously need to get to a position where I can throw multiple innings. Go out there and get another outing under my belt and feel good again [and] see where it goes from there.”

Mills is being built up to start, but is up for any role when he joins the Cubs.

“Whatever happens when I get back is what I’ll do,” Mills said. “I think it’s a broken record, I say it every time, I’ll do whatever.”

As for pitcher Wade Miley (left elbow inflammation), he threw around 50 pitches in a bullpen session that went well, and is expected to throw live batting practice Wednesday in Atlanta. Unlike Mills, whose versatility allows him to be slotted in different parts of the staff, Miley will be a starter when he’s past his injury.

“Depending on personnel, where we’re at, health and concerns about a lot of things and optional pieces, all those things [are] a factor in how we fit things together,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I know Millsy’s done multiple roles, so that’s always an option, but I think the main thing for me is just that we get him built up to start.”

Putting it in perspective

The Cubs’ 21-0 win Saturday was the franchise’s most lopsided shutout victory ever, surpassing a 20-0 win in Washington on May 28, 1886. It was also the Cubs’ biggest home win since a 29-run victory over Louisville on June 29, 1897, at the West Side Grounds.

The historic nature of the win didn’t reach Ross until after the game when he was informed by Cubs media relations.

“We were joking yesterday, everybody’s enjoying the 21-0 game and I still have to give the green light 3-0 to swing or not to swing,” Ross said. “Managers’ decisions don’t end until the game ends, and then there’s more to be made. I don’t know that I ever sit back and enjoy.”

Ross was more focused on watching lefty Sean Newcomb make his Cubs debut and who he could rest in the middle of the blowout, which he did by pinch-hitting for right fielder Seiya Suzuki in the fifth.

The Cubs also lived up to their contact-first ethos by scoring 21 times and hitting just one home run. Those 21 runs were the most by the club in a game with one or no homers since beating the Boston Braves 24-2 on July 3, 1945.

“The homers are nice. I like home runs,” Ross said. “I think everybody likes home runs, but I think we’re built to be contact-based and hopefully that’s a strength of ours.”

Thoughts on Cabrera

Ross knew pretty early that Miguel Cabrera, who picked up his 3,000th hit Saturday would be special. When he was asked about the future Hall of Famer, Ross remembered Cabrera’s Aug. 14, 2003, opposite-field home run off a splitter from Dodgers starter Kevin Brown, which was just the seventh homer of his career.

“I was like, who the heck is this?” Ross said. “Nobody does that.”

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MINNEAPOLIS — The White Sox on Sunday said they expect outfielder Eloy Jimenez to be out six to eight weeks with a right hamstring strain.

Jimenez landed on the 10-day injured list and will undergo further evaluation by team physicians at Rush hospital before a treatment plan is put in place, the team said.

The Sox will give more details on Jimenez’ outlook Tuesday before the team opens a home stand at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Sox complete a road trip in Minneapolis Sunday afternoon.

Jimenez was injured running out a ground ball in the second inning of a 9-2 loss to the Twins Saturday, the Sox’ sixth defeat in a row.

“The injury to Eloy is more important than losing the game,” manager Tony La Russa said Saturday. “He banged the hamstring serious enough. We have to wait for the MRI to get the final diagnosis, but it makes everybody want to break up. We lost a player two years in a row.

“It just breaks your heart.”

Jimenez will join eight players on the injured list: Right-handers Lance Lynn (right knee), Lucas Giolito (returning from abdominal strain Sunday), Joe Kelly (biceps nerve) and Jonathan Stiever (right lat surgery), left-hander Garrett Crochet (Tommy John surgery), third baseman Yoan Moncada (oblique) and outfielder Yermin Mercedes (broken hamate bone).

Luis Robert sustained a groin pull in Cleveland Thursday that will keep him out of the series in Minneapolis.

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Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez is expected to miss six to eight weeks after suffering a hamstring strain in Saturday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Jimenez landed awkwardly on first base after hitting a ground ball to Twins third baseman Luis Arraez in the second inning. He immediately went to the ground and stayed there until the medical cart came while the training staff attended to his injury.

It is the second straight season Jimenez has landed on the IL with a long-term injury. Last year he was out for nearly four months with a pectoral injury suffered in spring training.

Jimenez, 25, was hitting .229 with one home run entering the game Saturday.

With Jimenez going on the 10-day injured list, the White Sox reinstated right-hander Lucas Giolito from the 10-day IL. Giolito will start Sunday’s game against the Twins.

Information from ESPN’s Jesse Rogers was used in this report.

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