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Alex Caruso laments not winning games against subpar teams last season

The Bulls let numerous games get away from them last season.

Harvey Glassbrook

© Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
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As the saying goes, hindsight is 20-20, and Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso knows the team could have done better than what it showed last season when they missed the NBA Playoffs by a game. The defensive lynchpin believes that as painful as the loss to the Miami Heat in the final Play-in game was, losing numerous winnable games in the regular season hurt their campaign even more.

Played better than Miami

The Bulls had the Heat's number all season long and were in control for most of the game until Miami came alive in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 35-23 to take a 102-91 win that put them in the NBA Playoffs. The Heat then went on a historic run to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Denver Nuggets.

Looking back on that game, Caruso believes they should not have let the lead slip away.

"Who knows what would’ve happened if we had won that game? I thought we played so well. It was almost the opposite of Toronto where I thought Toronto played better than us for 2 ½, 3 quarters and then we kind of won the game late," Caruso said.

"I thought we played better than Miami for the majority of that game, and it was a better matchup for us. We had won the season series. And then they just made more plays and more shots down the stretch. Basketball is a make-or-miss league."

Win the winnable games

Caruso, though, laments their effort in games that they should have won. It stung so much that he found it hard to sleep, thinking back on games against sub.500 teams that they let slip away.

"But I don’t think back to that game as much as I do to four or five games during the season that we should’ve won. We should beat the teams that are under .500, definitely at home. And then you’re not even in the play-in game. And that didn’t sit well with me as I tried to sleep at night."

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Harvey Glassbrook
HARVEY GLASSBROOK

Chicago Bulls fan ever since “the shrug.” Meeting Jud Buechler at the Berto Center before the Last Dance season is one of my GOAT NBA moments, followed by watching two games at the United Center during that campaign. Virginia Military Institute graduate and a recovering sneakerhead. 

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