Runs With The Bulls

Posted on by rokdeezbullsblog

What a wild game. The Chicago Bulls win their 2nd game of the season, 104-103, in overtime, over the staunchly mediocre Toronto Raptors. This game had more runs in it than a 21 year old slurping margaritas and eating day old gyros (not that I’d know anything about that). But even as twenty point leads waffled back and forth between the two teams, DeMar DeRozan (definitely NOT washed) and Alex Caruso found a way to drag the Bulls to victory.

To say that this game was a “must win” for the Bulls would be hyperbolic and inaccurate, but it sure felt like they had to win it. A players only meeting after game 1, some strong public comments about lack of heart and the importance of confrontation, Season 3 of the Mid Three has gotten off to a less than stable start. DeRozan and Caruso showing up and balling out in the 4th quarter and overtime, gives me some hope that there is heart left in this team, there is fight left in this group.

Tonight the Bulls travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons in their first back-to-back of the season. Detroit is another one of those plucky young teams with a lot of talent, the Bulls should pick up the win tonight, but with last night’s game going to overtime and the historical struggles this team has with youth, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they lose. We’ll see if the emotional high from their dramatic victory will propel the Bulls to another win, or if they come out tired and flat in the 2nd half.

5 Observations From Game 2

  1. DeMar DeRozan is NOT washed, in fact he’s Da Man. I’m pretty sure he tore a towel in half when he was sitting frustrated in the huddle with the Bulls down double digits in the 4th. He scored 20+ of his 33 points in the 4th quarter and overtime. King of the 4th.
  2. Zach LaVine might (?) have a back injury (?), maybe? He was wearing a very large heat wrap around his midsection during halftime warmups, doing stretches on the sideline, and what looked like wincing after his late game dunk.
  3. LaVine, while struggling mightily on both ends of the court for most of the game, did make two key plays in the end to help the Bulls win: the aforementioned dunk, and his drive to the basket and kickout pass to Caruso in the corner with less than 5 seconds left in overtime to win the game. Good stuff from an injured(?) Zach LaVine.
  4. Torrey Craig is outplaying Patrick Williams at power forward. Williams, in his relatively short career, still hasn’t figured out how to impact games, while Craig is thriving at being a disruptor, a 3 point threat, and an all around energy guy.
  5. The Bulls are making good on their promise to shoot more threes. I didn’t check the numbers on this one so they might be a little inaccurate, but through the first two games of the season, they’ve gotten up more threes than they did in the entire first half of last season. Now the next step in the process is to actually start making those shots.

Until they do, thanks for reading, thanks for subscribing, and GO BULLS!