For must-win game, Bulls officially list Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso as out

The motivation is simple for the Bulls as they take the court against the Bucks Wednesday night:

Win or go home. Milwaukee leads the series 3-1 and is on the brink of ending what started as a promising season in Chicago.

Now comes news the Bulls will have to win that game without their second-leading scorer, and their best defender — Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso are officially out.

Zach LaVine (health & safety protocols) and Alex Caruso (concussion protocols) are both listed as OUT for Game 5 tonight in Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/RRgAjYCu8R

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 27, 2022

How much trouble are the Bulls in on the road without those two? Our partner Points Bet has the Bulls as 12-point underdogs in this closeout game.

Injuries undid the Bulls this season: They were 27-13 when Ball played his last game before his knee issues and went 19-23 the rest of the way, falling back to the No. 6 seed in the East. Caruso missed time during the season and without him and Ball the Chicago defense fell apart, and by the end of the season the Bucks were tanking a  game to try and face the Bulls in the first round.

LaVine has averaged 19.3 points a game these playoffs, but his positive test and absence were announced yesterday. Caruso’s defense has been spectacular against a long and athletic Bucks team that scores on everyone, and there were concerns he would not get out of concussion protocols in time to play.