Caruso in concussion protocol, status for Game 5 unknown
Bulls guard Alex Caruso is officially in concussion protocol, according to coach Billy Donovan, and his status for Wednesday's Game 5 in Milwaukee is unknown.
Caruso was struck in the face by Bucks guard Jevon Carter just before halftime in Sunday's Game 4 at the United Center. He suffered a bloody nose, left the court and did not return.
"Really, it's probably going to be a day-to-day thing with him," Donovan said Monday on a Zoom call with reporters. "He's obviously going to have to go through a series of tests before he's cleared. I don't know how long that would take or how long it would take for his symptoms to go away. Right now it's day-to-day and not sure if he will be able to play on Wednesday. We'll find out a lot more on Tuesday."
Carter was called for a foul on the play, but the contact seemed to be accidental. Caruso was helping guard a screen-and-roll and was hit by Carter's left elbow as the Bucks guard dribbled past.
The Bulls trail the first-round series 3-1 and their season would end with a loss Wednesday. If Caruso misses the game, it would be a chance for younger players like Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White to get more playoff minutes.
Bench play and long-range shooting have been problems for the Bulls in this series. They rank last in the league in playoff 3-point shooting accuracy at 28 percent.
"The thing that was eye-opening to me about the shooting is I think we generated 19 corner 3s for the game, which is an astronomically high valued-shot in the NBA," Donovan said. "And I think we were 5-for-19 from there. They generated 5 corners 3, which is what you want to do defensively, and they went 4-for-5."
The shot chart on nba.com had the Bucks 5-for-6 on corner 3s and the Bulls 5-for-19.
"So there are times when the ball is being sprayed around and guys are open and you've got to have them take those shots, and we have not made the level of shots that maybe Grayson Allen has done or Wesley Matthews," he said.
"I think Zach (LaVine) and DeMar (DeRozan) are playing the right way. I think the worst thing we can do is try to force it in there and shoot over their length. We're going to have to spray the ball out and hopefully continue to have confidence in taking the shots that are there."
Asked about DeRozan and LaVine walking away from the bench and toward the tunnel with 12.5 seconds on the clock at the end of Game 4, Donovan said he didn't see it and didn't want to comment.
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