Alex Caruso delivered salvation for the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, lifting his team on both ends of the court in a 104-103 overtime victory for the first win of the season.
The night was defined by Caruso’s dogged pursuit of the ball. He racked up two steals and a block, drew five offensive fouls and snagged 13 rebounds — including six offensive boards. But in the final seconds of a convoluted and crazed game, it was Caruso’s poise with the ball in his hands that sealed the win.
Zach LaVine grabbed a rebound with four seconds remaining in OT and a two-point deficit on the scoreboard. He tore off to the basket, bulldozing to the rim in signature form — but instead of taking the shot, he flipped the ball to Caruso in the corner.
Caruso had made only one 3-pointer all night, but his ensuing shot with 2.3 seconds left was automatic.
The bench stormed Caruso after the buzzer, ripping his signature sweatband off his head and dousing him with water.
“It was a good sense of relief,” Caruso said. “We have a good team chemistry. Today we showed good spurts of how we want to play, being together, playing for each other, playing hard. That’s how I embody myself as a basketball player. They know I play for the team, so whenever I make big plays in the game, they show me love.”
The Bulls are 1-1 as they headed to Detroit to face the Pistons on Saturday.
Here are six takeaways from the win.
1. Nine seconds of madness.
The final nine seconds of regulation were a flurry of confusion.
The Bulls trailed 91-90. Caruso tipped a turnover. DeRozan scooped it up, powered in a layup, earned the extra free throw — then missed the attempt. That miss was tipped up and into the basket. The scoreboard momentarily showed the Bulls leading 92-91, only for a review to call the basket back for goaltending.
A foul. Pascal Siakam hit two free throws to stretch the Raptors’ lead to 93-90. But DeRozan came down with the same intent, this time baiting Chris Boucher into a foul on a 3-point attempt. First two free throws were effortless. The third attempt clanked off the rim.
Three seconds left. Surely it was over this time. Instead, Caruso threw his body in front of Siakam with the fearlessness of a zealot, earning a charge and one final chance. DeRozan took the inbound pass, pump faked and sent Scottie Barnes several feet into the air until he crashed down into another foul.
Two free throws for the win. A career 84% free-throw shooter at the line. Surely that was it — and, no. One make. One miss. Time expired and a trip to overtime after nine seconds stretched into minutes of insanity for both teams.
2. DeMar DeRozan delivers on his promise.
DeRozan issued a promise after the Bulls suffered a 20-point blowout on opening night: “We won’t let that happen again.”
He followed through on that promise Friday.
With 4:58 remaining in regulation, the Bulls trailed 88-71. But DeRozan willed the Bulls into overtime almost entirely on his own, scoring all 18 of his fourth-quarter points in that span. Caruso scored the only other four points for the Bulls in the final five minutes with a 3-pointer and a free throw.
DeRozan’s energy already had been a galvanizing force for the Bulls — midway through third quarter, he stormed to the bench, ripping a towel in half and threw it to the ground as he shouted at his teammates.
But it was also an imperfect finish for DeRozan, who missed three crucial free-throw attempts in the final 12 seconds — two that would have tied the game and one that would have put the Bulls ahead by a point with time expired.
DeRozan expressed frustration over those misses — and gratitude for Caruso’s clutch performance.
“Alex bailed me out,” DeRozan said. “It’s amazing. The effort that he puts, the sacrifice that he goes out and plays with, throwing his body around, his IQ defensively, his instincts, it’s amazing to watch. It’s like letting a cheetah out of a cage and run wild. He makes it look pretty.”
3. Bulls erase first quarter deficit with 20-point run — then let it slip.
Before the hilarity of the ending, the opening minutes of the game were brutal for the Bulls. Coby White missed the rim entirely on a whiffed 3-pointer on the first shot. The Bulls came up empty-handed on the next five possessions: consecutive turnovers, two missed 3-pointer attempts, then a blocked attempt from behind the arc by Patrick Williams. By the 6:45 mark, scattered boos began to rain down as the Raptors took a 14-2 lead.
The Bulls went on a swing of their own, going on a 12-point run to tie the game 16-16 with 3:26 left in the first quarter after DeRozan and Torrey Craig each hit a 3-pointer. The Bulls scored 20 unanswered points to close the quarter until O.G. Anunoby threw down a buzzer-beating dunk to break the streak.
But the Raptors countered in the third quarter with a 20-0 streak, reclaiming a 17-point lead in the final frame. The game ultimately resulted in seven lead changes and five ties with a swing of 36 points between each team’s biggest point advantage.
4. Zach LaVine suffers another poor shooting night.
LaVine continued to struggle against the Raptors, finishing 3-for-14 from the field and missing all six of his attempts from 3-point range.
At the half, LaVine utilized a wrap and heating pad to address back stiffness, which he said is “not a concern” after the game. He will assess his availability for the back-to-back against the Pistons on Saturday morning.
LaVine did make one of the biggest plays of the game to assist Caruso’s winning shot, utilizing quick judgment to feed his teammate on the perimeter after driving for a perilous look at the rim. But he is 7-for-30 from the field and 2-for-15 from 3-point range on the season — a pattern that can’t continue if the Bulls want to compete consistently.
5. 3-point volume still up — but accuracy still down.
The Bulls again took a much higher volume of 3-pointers than last season — and missed most of them.
They finished 8-for-39 (20.5%) from 3-point range. That quantity does match the improvement that coach Billy Donovan hoped to see, eclipsing last season’s average by 10 attempts (although that number is slightly skewed because of the additional five minutes of overtime).
The Bulls were aided by a similarly poor-shooting night by the Raptors, who finished 9-for-36 from 3-point range.
6. Patrick Williams yanked from the rotation
Although he started the game, Williams did not factor as a closer Friday. In fact, he was yanked from the rotation with 8:29 left in the third quarter and did not leave the bench again.
Williams finished with three points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist. But his impression on the game was shallow compared with Craig, who was a buoyant defensive force off the bench alongside Caruso.
Donovan deflected some blame from Williams after the game, saying the decision “wasn’t all on Patrick” and reflected Craig’s success. But it raises questions for the fourth-year forward, who continues to struggle to assert himself.
