By OnMilwaukee Staff Writers   Published Apr 29, 2015 at 1:05 PM Photography: David Bernacchi

The big picture for the Milwaukee Bucks is full of excitement as the team gets ready to play the Chicago Bulls in game six of their playoff series Thursday night.

But this is a pointillist picture, made up of a whole bunch of little dabs of paint, some of which were supplied by the team's media department:

  • In game four at the BMO Harris Bradley Center there were a lot of seats normally held by Bucks season ticket holders that were filled with red-clad Bulls fans. It was so obvious that Jon McGlocklin called the Bucks fans who sold their tickets to Bulls’ fans "disgusting." We’ll see how many of the Bucks fans sell their tickets Thursday night. The Bucks urging all fans to wear green in order to drown out whatever red there is the in BMO Harris Bradley Center.
  • John Henson had 14 blocks against the Bulls on Monday night, tying his post-season career high.
  • Monday’s win at Chicago was the first time in the series that the Bucks have had a better field goal percentage than the Bulls, 42.4 (Milwaukee’s highest in the series) to 34.4. It was not only Chicago’s lowest shooting percentage in the series, but also the lowest by a Milwaukee opponent in the playoffs since April 29, 2003 (Nets, .338).
  • Everybody makes a big deal about how inexperienced the Bucks are in the playoffs. Despite the youth of Milwaukee’s roster, seven of the 15 players had playoff experience prior to this year, two of which – John Henson and Ersan Ilyasova – were with the Bucks during the 2013 NBA Playoffs. Entering the 2015 Playoffs, Zaza Pachulia led the pack with 40 postseason games, and Jerryd Bayless (23), Jared Dudley (23) and O.J. Mayo (20) rounded out the next level of experience with at least 20.
  • Back around Christmas last year, he Bucks ranked as low as 21st in the NBA in opponent points per game, allowing an average of 101.2, and were tied for 13th with a defensive rating of 103.1. Over the final months, however, Milwaukee moved up to 8th place for fewest opponent points per game this season, allowing an average of 97.4, and finished in 2nd place with a 99.3 defensive rating, according to NBA.com/stats. The Bulls are coming face to face with that defensive pressure in this series.
  • The Bucks limited the Bulls to four 3-pointers made in Game 5, after Chicago entered the night averaging 12.0 makes from downtown per game in the playoffs. The Bucks’ 16-for-16 mark from the free throw line set a new postseason record for attempts without a miss.  Milwaukee has posted double-digit steals in all five postseason games, joining the 1993 Seattle SuperSonics as the only teams to have five consecutive such games in one postseason series since 1984-85.
  • Henson pulled in 10 rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. Overall, he finished with 14 rebounds in 22 minutes. He also managed to not commit a single foul, while everyone else on the Bucks had at least two.
  • If you are wondering how Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler combined to miss 31 shots, you could start with the fact that they were blocked a combined 10 times by the Bucks. Rose was blocked six times and Butler four times.
  • Talk about finishing quarters. The Bucks outscored the Bulls, 14-2, in the final minute of all four quarters. The Bulls did not make a shot from the field in the final minute of any of the four quarters. Finishing each quarter strong is a mantra for Jason Kidd.

There you go. Armed with some numbers let’s move on and get this thing underway. 

The Bucks will host another fan pep rally in the BMO Harris Bradley Center East Plaza from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. There will be food, drinks, live music, interactive games, poster-making, face painting and appearances by the FOX Sports Wisconsin Girls and Bucks entertainers.