It sure looked like it was over, Raptors guard Fred VanVleet hoisting a half court heave at halftime that when in for an 11-point Toronto lead Wednesday in the one-game play-in game for the teams.
And then it was the Raptors roaring out of the half with eight straight points—and six consecutive Bulls empty possessions—that gave Toronto, at home, fans erupting inside and outside, one foot in Canada and the other in Miami, a 66-47 lead with about nine minutes left in the third quarter.
That’s right, no sweat.
“Even when Fred makes that half court shot at the end of the first half and they came out and make a run to go up, what 18, 19 points, we were pretty calm on the bench,” insisted Alex Caruso. “We were talking about what we were doing, play a little faster, rebound the ball. There was no panic or concern. It was, ‘Let’s get back to doing what we do, one possession at a time.’”
Remarkably, the Bulls did in their most unlikely 109-105 win that ended Toronto’s season and sent the Bulls, the first 10th seed to win a play-in tournament game, to Miami Friday for the play off game to start the regular playoffs in Milwaukee Sunday.
Everyone agreed, watching and participating, that the Bulls success would not have been possible without the extraordinary play of Zach LaVine, who had 39 points, 30 in the second half.
“If you’re down like that and getting stops, that’s great,” agreed Bulls coach Billy Donovan. “But if you’re not scoring it’s a problem. Zach, his scoring and the pace we played with got us back into it.”
As well as the rugged determination of Caruso and down the stretch Patrick Beverley, the two hustle guys winning those loose balls, making those plays that can ultimately tilt the result in their team’s direction.
“We feed off those guys,” said DeMar DeRozan. “It’s contagious; amazing what they do. It’s amazing how much pride they take in being defenders. And with that us being the leaders of the team, we have to rally behind it. It’s amazing to see them lock up, make steals, big plays, sacrifice their bodies diving for the ball; it definitely gets us going.”
It wouldn’t have mattered much without LaVine.
“That’s why our team is set up for success,” insisted Caruso. “We’ve got two killers in Zach and DeMar. And Vooch has been a 15-point scorer throughout his career, Coby (White) is playing really well, Patrick (Williams). So me and Pat Bev find our spots off those guys. That’s all we have to do is play our roles and we know we’ve got two killers down the stretch of the game who can get a bucket on anyone in the league.”
Beverley struggled for much of the game, though he did make a big three-pointer to give the Bulls a 96-93 lead with 5:21 left (the Bulls had led for 19 seconds before that) and had a block and a steal in the fourth quarter. But it was Caruso making one big defensive play after another, which did offset fouling Pascal Siakam on a three with 12 seconds left that could have tied the game. Siakam predictably missed two of three free throws in a shockingly pathetic 18 of 36 Toronto free throw shooting horror show.
But when LaVine was Moses-like leading his flock from the bonds of their misery late in the third quarter, Caruso forced VanVleet into a turnover, came up with a steal and went all the way for a score to tie the game at 93, made a three of his own earlier to get the Bulls into a tie at 91, rebounded his own miss early in the fourth quarter when Toronto went ahead 87-75 and passed to Vučević for a layup and added a fourth quarter from behind block among his three blocks and three steals in the game.
“It was about defending and trying to fight until we got our offense going,” said Caruso. “Then we got a spark late in the third and Zach and DeMar carried us down the stretch. I compete at a high level. This is kind of my time of year. In my opinion, this is why I play basketball, for these games late in the year when details and discipline matter and the will to compete at a high level for 48 minutes. I just didn’t want to lose; that’s kind of what it come down to, have an edge and make plays.”
He did, and so the Bulls didn’t lose. On to South Beach with the heat now on Miami.
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