MIAMI — For just under five glorious minutes Thursday night, it felt like old times. Or, at least it felt like last week, when the Bulls were on a four-game winning streak, playing with an identity in large part because of guard Alex Caruso.
Then it happened. Caruso, who had missed the previous two games with an injury to his left ankle, again felt it go when center Nikola Vucevic accidentally stepped on it. Caruso went to the bench with the Bulls leading the Heat 16-5, then headed to the locker room, never to return in an eventual 124-116 win.
Although the injury didn’t cost the Bulls (10-16) the first game of their two-game series in Miami, it’s a serious concern for Caruso and the team as they continue to try to turn the season around.
Asked about the defensive-minded Caruso’s role in the team culture, coach Billy Donovan responded, “Critical.”
“I’ve talked a lot about things that impact winning, go into winning,” Donovan said. “And I’ve talked a lot about [guard] Coby [White] and kind of his evolution of the things that have become important to him — how can he impact the game besides shooting and scoring the ball? Alex does that. He is really, really smart, really tough. He’s really competitive. He’s a great team guy in the locker room. I would just put the word ‘winner’ around him — just a winner. He impacts winning at an incredibly high level. I love guys like that because those guys, you know what you’re getting every single night, and those guys have an ability to impact the game.”
Caruso wasted no time showing that against the Heat, hitting two three-pointers and notching an assist at the start of the game as the Bulls built a lead that would increase to 25 points in the first half, even with Caruso in the training room.
However, the Bulls refused to make the night easy on themselves, and the Heat had answer after answer as they eventually narrowed the gap to four in the final minutes.
A three-pointer by Ayo Dosunmu (24 points on 10-for-12 shooting) with 2:27 left ended up being huge, as was White’s overall performance: a game-high 26 points to go with 11 assists and seven rebounds. Vucevic finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and DeMar DeRozan scored 23.
But the Caruso setback was on everyone’s mind afterward.
“It was a bummer losing A.C. because you just feel bad for him and the work he’s put in to get back,” Dosunmu said. “I was actually very sad. He checked in [at the start], hit two threes, he was feeling good, and then to see him have to go out, it was a bummer. But I just try and stay ready. Stay ready and try and grow.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how long this latest injury will sideline Caruso. In their last four games without him, the Bulls are 0-4.
There’s a reason why he’s their most sought-after asset on the trade market.
“He’s one of those guys that you’re not going to look down at the box score and see 25 points every night,” Donovan said. “There’s going to be a lot of things that don’t show up in a stat sheet about him fighting a guy off of a post-up and being in a help position. There’s a lot you cannot measure on the things he does. For me, those are the kind of guys I feel that I have great respect and admiration for.”
