Bulls find ‘spirit’ animal in most decisive win of the early season

The lead was 17, and the clock was under eight minutes left to play.

Alex Caruso wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

As his teammates sat down on the bench after a Bulls timeout, Caruso started pointing at his temple and telling each of them to focus in. A veteran understanding that there can be no more letdowns in the early stages of this season. Urgency at its finest.

Message heard.

Thanks to a rare outstanding shooting night from three-point range (18-of-34), as well as spurts of really solid defense, the Bulls (3-5) watched an ugly three-game losing streak come to an end, beating Utah 130-113 at the United Center on Monday.

“A lot of it coming out of the Denver (loss) was just our spirit,’’ coach Billy Donovan said. “There’s things we have control over. There’s still ways to impact the game. The intention that we played with (against Utah) was very good, and they maintained it.

“We’ve got to keep building consistency and resiliency through the struggles. We’ve got to keep that energy into the game. It’s not a situation where we’re helpless. That was the talk coming out of huddles, and they were dialed into that.’’

Right from the start, as DeMar DeRozan shed his mid-range cape and nailed a three-pointer just 90 seconds into the contest.

It was obviously contagious for the home team, with the Bulls letting it rip from long range in those first 12 minutes, going 6-of-9 from three-point range and building a 37-32 lead.

While the offense flexed its muscles in that opening stanza, it was time for some good old-fashioned defense in the second quarter, with the Bulls holding Utah (2-6) to just 20 points and taking a very comfortable 14-point lead into halftime locker room.

Complementary basketball at its finest.

More importantly there was no let-up in the second half.

Thanks to two more Zach LaVine three pointers, the Bulls went 4-for-4 from long range in the third, putting another 30-point quarter on the struggling Jazz. LaVine finished with a team-high 24 points.

“We definitely put a good 48 minutes together,’’ center Nikola Vucevic said. “We knew coming out of that Denver game, especially the second half, we needed to come out and play much better. This was a good response. Hopefully we learn from it and realize playing like this is our best chance.

“I’m not a believer in just one game changes everything, but it can be a good stepping stone for us to understand. Now it has to be game after game after game.’’

And as bad as Utah was on the night, not one finger could be pointed in the direction of former Bull Lauri Markkanen. He continued being everything the Bulls were hoping he could have been for them before he was traded by the organization, putting up 29 points, grabbing five rebounds and shooting 5-of-12 from three-point range.

A reminder of the flashes he showed in his four years with the Bulls, before he was sent to Cleveland in the 2021 offseason.

“I don’t know all the dynamics prior to getting here and then him feeling like he needed a change, but sometimes guys evolve when they go,’’ Donovan said of the one season he had Markkanen before the deal was made. “Sometimes players go through experiences, and they develop at their own pace. I think it’s hard sometimes for these guys when they’re lottery picks and they’re billed as being the franchise going forward. That’s a lot to put on a young guy’s back. Sometimes it takes them a period of failure to really evaluate how they can get better and how they can improve.’’