Alex Caruso made his return for the Chicago Bulls during the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The fans at the United Center greeted Caruso with a standing ovation.
It was Caruso’s first minutes for the Bulls since suffering a fractured wrist on a flagrant foul by Grayson Allen against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan 21.
There were some inklings Caruso was close to making his return against the Cavaliers during practice on Friday.
“I think we have to continue to check the boxes, make sure that it’s functional and if I get hit, it’s not going to be bad — if I fall, little things like that. But as far as shooting and passing and dribbling, I’m good with all that stuff,” Caruso said.
The Bulls will certainly be happy to have him back. They went 12-10 without Caruso but where they really missed him was on defense. Without him, the Bulls struggled defensively and his absence was significantly felt against the elite teams in the Eastern Conference.
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Both the Bulls and Caruso are going to take things day-by-day and not try to rush anything. But Caruso sounds like he's ready to go.
“I’m good to go with anything. Doctors said I’m not going to re-break it or anything. Bone is fully healed. Screws are in there holding everything together. The only soreness, kind of anything in the way, is just soft tissue stuff that’s just working its way back from the surgery.”
His return is going to be a huge boost down the final stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs.