NEWSLETTER
In typical Chicago Bulls fashion, they had me furious one half and exhilarated the next.
I wish I could say I’m shocked the Chicago Bulls’ pulled off that win. While I did write about 600 words over halftime about the end of the season, I knew there was a pretty good chance those words wouldn’t be published tonight. Time and again this year, we’ve seen that there is no better team in the league than the Bulls down 19+ points (or worse team than the Bulls up 19+)!
I especially wasn’t going to lose all hope because of how they came out to start the game. While there is no question they looked a step slow on defense and a bit out of sync on offense, they were playing with the kind of physicality and aggressiveness that is needed to hang with the Raptors team. Toronto was also knocking down an unexpected amount of jumpers, so it just felt like the law of averages might be lingering. And that wasn’t the only thing.
Zach LaVine had a quiet first half with just 7 points. Knowing how well he’s played since the All-Star break, it just felt like a big second half might be looming. What came next was exactly that, as the Bulls’ max player looked the part with 32 points over the final two quarters.
As he got going, the rest of the team followed. Patrick Beverley hit a huge 3-pointer to officially erase the Bulls’ 19-point deficit and tie the game. After the two sides proceeded to exchange buckets, Alex Caruso then hit his own massive corner 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 96-93 lead. Chicago would never fall on the wrong side of the scoreboard from there as both LaVine and DeMar DeRozan helped close things out.
I’m going to have a whole lot more to say about this game tomorrow. For now, I’m just going to walk my dog and scream like DeMar DeRozan’s daughter with joy (if you missed what she did … you have to see it). Up next: Miami. BRING IT ON JIMMY!
Check out the full box score here.
