The Bulls are coming back from hell

The Bulls and fans had already seen this movie and they didn’t like the ending. During the fourth quarter, the Chicago players had a series of missed open shots and lost balls. Opposite, the Raptors strike when they can and five minutes from time, there is a 17-point gap.

We are therefore heading towards a second defeat for the Bulls, after the slap against the Thunder which pushed the players to organize a crisis meeting in the locker room! And then DeMar DeRozan continues the baskets and free throws, to score 22 points in the last act and bring the Bulls back into the game.

“Win by any means necessary.” This is my state of mind in every fourth quarter”he assures ESPN. “It doesn’t matter what happened in the first three. The fourth is the time to give it your all. »

However, despite his performance, the winger wasted three free throws in the last fifteen seconds. He could have given his team the victory without going into overtime, where he scored four points to finish with 33 units. But the main thing was elsewhere: in the victory obviously, but above all in the attitude.

“It was above all a question of bouncing back, of responding”he continues. “I have confidence in my teammates to fight and be competitive. We had some absences during this game, but we never gave up. We fought until the end to give ourselves a chance to win. We have to use moments like that. »

The Bulls on the verge of collapse on several occasions

We can almost say that the Bulls “lost” this game several times before winning it. They were down 16-4 early, before responding with a 20-0 and then a 16-0. Then, they lost 23-0 between the end of the first and the start of the second period. Finally, there are the 17 points behind with five minutes to go, another 15 even with four minutes. Without forgetting that, in overtime, Toronto had a four-unit lead…

“I really appreciated our efforts, our fight”rejoices Billy Donovan. “We had a roller coaster ride and we have to give credit to the players: they stayed in the match, tried to fight even when they were in difficulty, which happened in sequence in this meeting. »

To get this victory, the Bulls scored a decisive 3-point basket two seconds from the end. It was Alex Caruso, already author of an important winning basket in the last act, who was responsible for registering it on a pass from Zach LaVine.

“He got me out of trouble. He got us out of trouble,” smiles DeMar DeRozan while talking about his teammate’s decisive shot. “It’s a form of relief,” reacted the former Lakers, 13 points and 13 rebounds in this victory. “Already, the match is over and we will play again this Saturday. I was tired. Then I’m excited. We have good collective chemistry. Our meeting the other day helped to release the frustration. In this meeting, we showed at times how we want to play. »