MILWAUKEE — It’s not the normal type of talk one hears from a 20-year-old rookie in the NBA.
Then again, who said the Bulls’ Caleb Wilson was normal?
He wasn’t normal in knocking down four free throws in crunch time to help clinch the Bulls’ 132-125 victory Friday against the Bucks. He wasn’t normal in then grabbing a huge defensive rebound and following that by nabbing a steal on a pass by Tyler Herro a possession later.
Wilson is walking to the beat of his own drum and making sure opposing teams understand exactly who is conducting that music.
‘‘I always feel like near the end of the game I’m going to do the right thing, and I love those moments because it shows who you really are,’’ Wilson said. ‘‘The thing for me is just proving myself right. Like, if I want to be the guy, I’ve got to show up and make free throws, do clutch things in the final minutes. So just having the opportunity to do that is big.’’
Especially given that 19 of his 21 points came in the second half.
‘‘I feel like in the first half I didn’t get the ball as much,’’ Wilson said matter-of-factly. ‘‘One thing about the NBA is the games are long. You might not touch it in the first half, but once I get my chance I’m going to go out there and do what I can. And that’s all I did.
‘‘It’s a long game. Your teammates have to find you. And, honestly, I’m one of the focal points of our team; most teams focus on me. So just having that patience and knowing it’s eventually going to come.’’
Wilson’s 21 points, six rebounds, two blocks and one steal were somewhat historic as a follow-up to his 15 points, four rebounds, one block and one steal in the Bulls’ season opener Wednesday against the Raptors. He joined Michael Jordan as the only rookies in Bulls history to have stat lines with those minimums in his first two games.
‘‘He’s fearless, he’s a competitor [and] he’s a winner at the end of the day,’’ veteran guard Tre Jones said of Wilson. ‘‘He does whatever the team asks of him; he does things that the team doesn’t even ask of him. And, at the end of the day, he’s trying to make winning plays down the stretch — and he did that.’’
So did Jones, as coach Tiago Splitter closed the game with the hot hands rather than with his starting five.
Considering the embarrassment the Bulls suffered in their blowout loss to the Raptors, it was all hands-on deck in Splitter’s mind.
‘‘Nobody liked the way we played,’’ Splitter said. ‘‘We know that; the players know that. I think we hit bottom there, and it was bad.’’
It was up to Splitter to make sure the second game wasn’t. He watched his starters begin slowly again before players such as Jones, Leonard Miller, Isaac Okoro and Buddy Hield helped right the ship.
Hield scored a quick seven points in just more than four minutes in the second quarter, and Miller and Okoro combined for 18 points and were each a plus-12 in plus/minus.
That group would be called on again in the fourth, with the Bulls holding a two-point lead with 8:45 left. And at closing time, Jones, Okoro, Jalen Smith, Norman Powell and Wilson were on the court, with Wilson delivering when it mattered.
‘‘I expected to make the free throws; I expected to get the win,’’ Wilson said. ‘‘So nothing I didn’t expect.’’
