Aggressive defense fueled the Chicago Bulls' comeback, says DeMar DeRozan - "We feed off those guys. It's contagious."

Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and his daughter Diar got the bulk of the spotlight on Wednesday night after the Chicago Bulls sent the Toronto Raptors packing with a 109-105 win in the NBA Play-in tournament, and rightfully so. After all, LaVine scored 39 points—30 of which came in the second half—DeRozan added 23 points, while Diar screamed her lungs out to distract every Raptors player that shot a free-throw.

However, the result wouldn't have been what it was had it not been for the tenacious defense of Alex Caruso and Patrick Beverley, who DeRozan gave a lot of credit for sparking the team's comeback from a 19-point deficit.

"We feed off those guys. It's contagious," said DeRozan.

Defensive mindset

In LaVine, DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls have three players who have the offensive skills that allow the team to go toe-to-toe with any opponent in the Association. In Caruso and Beverley, the Bulls have two defensive specialists who lock up foes on the other end and don't mind doing other things on the offensive side to free up the team's "Big Three."

"It's amazing how much pride they take in being defenders. With us being the leaders of the team, we gotta follow behind and rally behind. They lock up, get steals, make big plays, sacrifice their body diving for the ball. It gets us going," added DeRozan.

Alex Caruso was an absolute MENACE in Toronto last night.

All-Defense this man! @ACFresh21 pic.twitter.com/2rk7eQLDcg
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 13, 2023

Made for this

Caruso was all over the floor against Toronto, defending the likes of the Raptors' All-Star big man Pascal Siakam to the team's other All-Star, guard Fred Van Vleet. Caruso—who ended up with an astounding three blocks and three steals—said he's more than willing to do whatever it takes to make the team successful, especially during this time of the year when the stakes are raised.

"This is kind of my time of year," Caruso said. "This is why I play basketball in the NBA, for games late in the year where details and discipline matter. And being able to compete at a high level for 48 minutes. I just didn't want to lose. When you have that edge, you tend to make plays."

Alex Caruso should be a lock for All-Defensive First Team and on the short list for Defensive Player of the Year

🧵 A thread of stats in case the highlights didn't do it for you ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wKG9hNNarS
— Will Gottlieb (@Will_Gottlieb) April 10, 2023