Bulls show tremendous resilience, despite the wave of injuries

On a night where the Chicago Bulls were having a hard time hitting any looks from beyond the arc with a still short-handed bench against the Milwaukee Bucks on the road, this team showed plenty of fight. Second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls did fall short to the Bucks on the night of Jan. 21 by the final score of 94-90. This was a game where the Bulls really shouldn’t have hung around for as long as they did.

Donovan and the Bulls came into that matchup against the Bucks as a double-digit underdog in the betting line. This was also one of the rare times of late this season where the Bucks had their big three of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton all healthy and effective.

Yet, the Bulls held tough in this game and saw an unlikely duo rise to the occasion to have a big night along with star forward DeMar DeRozan. While DeRozan was fantastic for the Bulls in this game, that wasn’t really the main narrative. The play of sharpshooting guard/wing Matt Thomas and power forward Tyler Cook definitely was.

DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso nearly push the Chicago Bulls to upset the Bucks on Jan. 21

Thomas was an effective shooter for the Bulls here and Cook held his own while defending some tough players such as Giannis.

Meanwhile, DeRozan gave the Bulls a game-high 35 points, a good portion of which came from the free-throw line. He also came up with six rebounds, three assists, and just one turnover while shooting 50 percent from the field.

We also saw the energy boost that point guard Alex Caruso gave to this team for the second game in a row. Getting Caruso back from the league’s health and safety protocol definitely gave the Bulls a spark in the last two games.

This wasn’t necessarily the most efficient night we’ll ever see out of Caruso, but he was doing a lot of the little things to try and help his team win. There is no doubt in my mind that getting Caruso back will be a major factor for the Bulls in the next few games as this team still copes with other key injuries.

The Bulls are still missing the likes of star shooting guard Zach LaVine, point guard Lonzo Ball, wing Javonte Green, and forward Derrick Jones Jr. at the moment. Getting all of those players back will obviously give the Bulls more juice. For the time being, though, it’s encouraging to see the fight this team is showing with the players that are still healthy right now.

Following this four-point loss to the Bucks on Jan. 21, the Bulls are now sitting on a record of 28-16. Next up for DeRozan, Caruso, and the Bulls is a meeting with the Orlando Magic on the road on Jan. 23.