That’s the quote of the night, from Alex Caruso making his way back down the tunnel to the locker room after the Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks in overtime, 120-113. It was the BEST win of the season, maybe of the past couple seasons. And it was a hard fought victory that came without Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, both sidelined with injuries.
From the jump, you could tell there was a different energy about this Bulls squad. The starting lineup consisted of Coby White, Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu, Nikola Vucevic, and Alex Caruso. Things got off to the prototypical rocky start for the Bulls, they quickly found themselves down 9-0 after missing a few jumpers. But there was still that different energy to the team. They played fast, pushing the pace, the ball snapped from player to player, quick, deliberate passes. The shots they were taking were open shots, good looks that just didn’t fall, until they did. And that 9-0 Milwaukee lead suddenly turned into a 16-14 Milwaukee lead.
And the fight was on.
And it was a fight. The Bulls scrapped and scraped, tearing down offensive boards and diving for loose balls, tipping passes, jawing at Bucks players, making every bit of the game uncomfortable for the visiting opponents. It was the most fight I’ve seen in a Bulls team since Tom Thibodeau was the coach.
It was glorious!
It was Bulls Basketball!
Vucevic played like an All-Star, scoring 29 points, with 6 assists, and 10 rebounds. Coby White poured in 23 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds. Ayo: 14/6/6 and 3 steals. Alex Caruso: 11 points, 5 assists, a couple steals, a block, and the game tying three pointer at the regulation buzzer to send the game to overtime. Even Patrick Williams chipped in 12 points (several vicious dunks) and a block, while doing his best to cover Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Special shout out to Jevon Carter who made it his mission to make Damian Lillard uncomfortable on the court. This was definitely a “revenge game” for Carter who let his former teammates know, every chance he got, exactly what they were missing when they let him walk in the offseason.
This was an unexpected joy of a win. The entire roster helped pull it off. Torrey Craig and Andre Drummond kept the pace moving, grabbing boards and playing solid defense, and allowed Vucevic to rest. Even Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips got some minutes in the game.
It was a team victory. Everybody had a not insignificant role in the win. But the high praise goes to the starters who set the tone, fought through the early adversity, kept the energy and pace throughout the entire game, and believed it was not only possible, but probable that they could beat this Milwaukee Bucks team.
Caruso was the man who finished this win for the Bulls. From his game tying three, to his turning defense-into-offense during overtime, Caruso willed the Bulls to the win.
Caruso was The Carushow in crunch time.
As great as Caruso was, my two favorite plays of the night involved Ayo Dosunmu.
Crossing up one of the best defenders in the league and nailing the jumper is no small task. Even in his limited playing time this season, Ayo has shown much improvement on offense. He constantly pushed the pace for the Bulls. But the best play of the night was his diving tip pass that saved the ball from going out of bounds and got it to Caruso, who then kicked it out to Coby White who drained a shot clocking beating 3 late in the 4th quarter. Impossibly impressive stuff from Ayo.
Here’s how that possession finished…
I nearly wept, it was so beautiful.
Actual competitive basketball. This was not the dead, lazy, going through the motions crap we’ve seen since LaVine said he was open to being traded. This was a team with some pride, that wasn’t going to lose on their home court, and had something to prove against a rival that handily knocked them out of the playoffs a couple seasons ago.
This was is the Bulls Basketball I expect to see every night, regardless of whether or not they win. I expect effort. I expect fight. I expect pride.
And we got it all last night!
There will be plenty to grouse about with this team going forward. I have a lot of negative thoughts about the last couple weeks of basketball which I will probably share, but not today. Today the Bulls are fighters, and winners! Today we feast, and let tomorrow worry about tomorrow.
Until tomorrow comes, thanks for reading, thanks for subscribing, and GO BULLS!
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