It wasn’t a throwaway statement to sound tough. No, DeMar DeRozan meant every word.
“I guarantee you that what you saw [Wednesday] night [in a season-opening loss to the Thunder], what we gave out won’t be the same come [Friday],” he said.
Against the Raptors at the United Center, DeRozan delivered on that promise, almost single-handedly willing the Bulls back from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter, missing what would have been a game-winning free throw and forcing overtime, where the Bulls finally won 104-103 on guard Alex Caruso’s three-pointer with 2.3 seconds left.
“Whatever we needed to get the win,” DeRozan said. “I just do what I’ve got to do to get the win, whatever I’ve got to do.”
He wasn’t kidding: He scored 18 of his 33 points in that high-intensity fourth quarter.
“It’s how you respond,” he said, just two days after the Thunder embarrassed the Bulls 124-104 to start the season.
And he wasn’t alone in responding. As great as DeRozan was offensively, Caruso was equal to the task on defense. He finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and two steals, drew a critical offensive foul and finished a plus-29 in plus/minus.
“It’s kind of like letting a cheetah out of the cage and [he] just [runs] wild when he’s out there,” DeRozan said. “He makes it look pretty.”
For the cheetah, it was another night’s work.
“Usually when there’s chaos like that, stuff is predictable,” Caruso said. “You can kind of foreshadow what’s going to happen or what guys are trying to do, so a lot of that is me anticipating. At that point of the game, you’ve just got to make plays.’’
That Caruso and DeRozan did. With the Bulls down 17 with just under five minutes in regulation, it was Caruso who highlighted an 11-0 run with a three, cutting the deficit to six with 2:42 left. Guard Coby White had a chance to make it a two-point game with 47 seconds left, but his three-point attempt missed. The teams then traded free throws, with DeRozan closing the gap to three with 20.3 seconds left.
The Bulls got a turnover rather than having to foul, leading to a hoop-and-harm from DeRozan. However, with a chance to tie the game, DeRozan missed the free throw. The Bulls tipped it back to DeRozan, but he missed the putback, with the Raptors’ Chris Boucher getting the rebound.
The Raptors put veteran forward Pascal Siakim at the line with 8.6 seconds left, and after he made both shots, DeRozan drew a foul on a three-point attempt with 3.5 seconds left, giving himself a chance at redemption. But after making the first two shots, he missed the last one and was called for a lane violation.
Still, the Raptors couldn’t stay out of their own way yet again, with Caruso drawing an offensive foul on Siakim. The Bulls again went back to DeRozan, who had a chance to win it with 0.3 seconds left but again split the pair from the line to send the game to overtime.
That’s when the Bulls would finally finish it off, thanks to Caruso blocking an attempt by Siakim and guard Zach LaVine pushing the ball up the floor. Rather than attacking the hoop, LaVine delivered the strike to Caruso, who nailed the three.
“Winning time is the last three, four minutes of the game when the plays are the most crucial — doing all the little things to make sure you can steal possessions in a game that’s out of reach, so you can get it back in reach,” Caruso said. “Create chaos.”
