Bucks beat Bulls at the buzzer to save their playoff lives

Jerryd Bayless capped a frenzied, thrilling, back-and-forth Game 4 against the Chicago Bulls with a game-winning layup at the buzzer, keeping the Milwaukee Bucks alive in the 2015 playoffs.

It was a total team effort from the Bucks, and they got a massive lift from their bench, which outscored Chicago's 47-13. They also got plenty of help from the Bulls, who were appallingly sloppy with the basketball all day. 

Chicago coughed it up an unthinkable 28 times - easily their highest total of the season - which led to 39 Bucks points. That's how you lose a game in which you hit 56 percent of your threes and outshoot your opponent by nearly 10 percent from the field. 

Derrick Rose was the biggest culprit, committing eight turnovers and looking out of sorts for the majority of the game. On Friday, Rose compared projecting his game-to-game performance to predicting the weather - in other words, a guessing game. This game showed the truth of that. After playing his best game in years in Game 3 on Thursday, Rose followed up with one of his most uneven. 

After shooting 1-of-8 to start the game, he hit four of his next five to help the Bulls climb out of an eight-point hole with under four minutes to play. But with the game tied, he turned the ball over on what should have been the last possession of the game, giving the Bucks one last chance to win it in regulation.

With 1.3 ticks on the clock, Rose was matched up with Bayless as the Bucks inbounded.

And just like that, things are headed back down the I-94 for a Game 5 in Chicago. 

Bucks owner Wesley Edens' daughter had some parting words for all the Bulls fans who chose to make the trek to Milwaukee. 

Turning Point

The Bulls erased a six-point deficit in the final minute to tie things up at 90, and the Bucks looked completely shellshocked. 

After Milwaukee came up empty on their next possession, the Bulls had the ball with the shot clock turned off. Rose looked like he was catching fire, and the Bulls put the game in his hands.  

Khris Middleton ripped it away. 

Star Performer

The Bucks got a balanced effort and came away with the win, but Jimmy Butler was the best player on the floor for either team. Without him, this game was over in the third quarter. 

Anytime the Bucks threatened to pull away, Butler came up with a big play, whether it was forcing a turnover at the defensive end or conjuring something from nothing on offense. 

Butler finished with a game-high 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting (5-of-7 from downtown), and added seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block. It was a playoff career-high for Butler, the third time in this series that he's established a new personal best. 

Honorable mention must go to O.J. Mayo, who had one of his best games as a Buck. Mayo keyed the Bucks' dominant bench mob, and came up with timely play after timely play to keep his team in front. He finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, dished four assists, ripped four steals, and was a plus-13 while he was on the court. 

Highlight Reel

The two best performers of the game collided at the rim at the end of the first quarter, and Butler came away victorious. 

Continuing a series-long trend, things got chippy, with pest Aaron Brooks hitting eventual hero Bayless with this nasty elbow in the second quarter. 

John Henson collected one of his game-high four blocks on an unsuspecting Joakim Noah in the fourth. 

Series at a Glance

Game 1: Bulls 103, Bucks 91 (Bulls lead 1-0)
Game 2: Bulls 91, Bucks 82 (Bulls lead 2-0)
Game 3: Bulls 113, Bucks 106 2OT (Bulls lead 3-0)
Game 4: Bucks 92 Bulls 90 (Bulls lead 3-1)
Game 5: Monday, April 27, TBD
Game 6*: Thursday, April 30, TBD
Game 7*: Saturday, May 2, TBD

*If necessary