<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > the Chicago Bulls got off to their best start since the 1996-97 season. </h1>
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They beat the Toronto Raptors 111-108 at Scotiabank Arena to improve the score to 4-0, making Chicago the last team in the East to remain unbeaten. After a big free-agent roster overhaul, the Bulls have benefited from some of their biggest new players in the offseason.
Ball shot five three-pointers and had 15 points and five assists. Alex Caruso came off the bench to score eight points and four steals, the Bulls' 41 steals title so far this season. DeMar DeRozan spent the first nine years of his career in Toronto, where 11 of his 26 points were scored in the fourth quarter, including some key points that helped the Bulls stabilize the situation and blocked the Raptors' counterattack.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > plus Zach Lavin's 22 points, the Bulls had their hottest start in 25 years. </h1>
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"Part of the reason I chose to come to Chicago is that everyone is hungry for success, for victory," DeRozan said after Monday's game. "There's that sentiment on everyone's shoulders, from the city to the organisation to the players I've interviewed.
"It's everyone's mindset and now it's all about winning. We're not in the development phase right now, we want to win right now. ”
The Bulls have won now, but their upcoming fixture schedule could better gauge the team's long-term competitiveness. After beating the Pistons (twice), Pelicans and Raptors, their next six games — the Knicks, Jazz, Celtics, 76ers (twice) and the Nets — should be a tougher test.
"We still have a long way to go," DeRozan said. "We still have a lot to clean up and something to learn. It's been a long season, man. (4-0 start) was great, but we still had a lot of basketball to do. We cannot treat this record as a badge of honor; We have to understand that the next game will be even tougher. ”
Still, the Bulls have had four 4-0 starts in team history, and before this season, each time Michael Jordan was on the team.
Since March 2017, the Bulls have not had a winning percentage of more than 50% in any one season. In his NBA career, LaVine has never won four straight (during the Olympics, he won five straight with team USA).
Despite bringing in so many new players, they were encouraged by the fact that the Bulls started so quickly. There were only three players — Raven, Kobe White and Patrick Williams — who were still on the team early last season, but new players led by DeRozan and Ball worked well with LaVine.
"I think we have a lot of high-quality players, we all want to win, we want to win together," Ball said. "I think it's easier to have chemistry when you have a group of players on the same team who have the same goals and the same mindset. That's what it is now. ”