The Bucks seemed to be heading for another victory, albeit a complicated one. After another 3-pointer from Brook Lopez to take the lead, Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked Patrick Williams then scored his two free throws. 106-103 for Milwaukee but ball for Chicago, with still five seconds to play.
Patrick Williams takes the throw-in and slides the ball to Nikola Vucevic in the center of the field. The latter waits for Alex Caruso, gives him the leather and lets the latter draw in front of Brook Lopez. Bingo!
Cause an error on the “switch”
The two teams go into overtime, where Chicago will finally get the better of Giannis and his gang.
“I had lost a lot of balls, so I wanted to make sure we didn’t lose this match” assured the hero of the evening afterwards, who in fact lost 7 of Chicago's 21 balls.
But on this last action, he trapped Malik Beasley on the weak side to offer himself space.
“I cut on the way back. Vooch (Nikola Vucevic) caught the ball. I set a false screen for Cobe (White) because I had heard (the Bucks coaches) say that they had to “switch” everything. So I knew that with this Coach system, either they were both going to follow me towards Vooch, or they were both going to go the other way. I tried to time it well so they missed their switch” explains Alex Caruso.
By banking on a communication problem between Khris Middleton and Malik Beasley, the latter being a very crumbly defender, Alex Caruso was right. Even if the action wasn't over yet…
The Bulls' best outside shooter
“I gave myself some space. Then Vooch gave me the ball and Brook (Lopez) took over. I just wanted to make sure I tested it a little bit moving forward to give myself some space. That's what I do. I shot. It went up and it came in” continues LeBron James' former Lakers partner.
Shooting facing a pivot, slightly unbalanced, is not easy. Even if Alex Caruso, the Bulls' best outside shooter this season with 48% 3-point success, was confident…
“I don't find it that difficult, because I take a lot of shots like this during the summer, in the open gyms, and then in August and September when we come back with the guys. It's just that I don't have much opportunity to show it because, usually, it's me who does the throw-in.” he concluded quietly.
