10 Observations: Bulls Win 4th Straight Behind DeRozan Masterpiece
10 observations: DeRozan paints masterpiece in Bulls win originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bulls won their fourth game in a row Monday at the United Center, running away from the Spurs down the stretch to a 120-109 victory.
The result moves the Bulls to 37-21 on the season. They’re alone at second in the East and trail Miami by half a game for the top spot with the All-Star break fast approaching.
Here are 10 observations:
1. With Zach LaVine missing his second straight game — and already ruled out Wednesday against the Kings as he visits a specialist in Los Angeles to address lingering soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee — the Bulls needed a big offensive output from his replacement in the starting lineup, Coby White.
White delivered in the early portion of the game, scoring the Bulls’ first eight points, making his first four 3-point attempts and eventually entering the halftime locker room with a game-high 16.
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Picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter limited him to 4 minutes, 31 seconds of playing time in the third quarter, but he regained his rhythm in the final frame. White handed out four assists in the fourth quarter, and drilled the dagger 3 that gave the Bulls a 10-point lead with less than 50 seconds to play, finishing with 24 points, six dimes and five 3s.
White has now scored in double-figures in six straight appearances, and is averaging 17.7 points while shooting 53.3 percent from distance in that span.
2. DeMar DeRozan missed five of his first six field-goal attempts, making the early contributions of White and Nikola Vučević (12 points in the first quarter) all the more valuable.
But when he awoke, he did so quickly, logging five straight makes (and 10 points) in a 106-second span between the 7:36 and 5:50 marks of the second quarter — a spurt which included this rather incredible poster dunk on Jakob Poeltl, who it must be noted is one of the game’s premier rim protectors:
As usual, though, DeRozan saved the majority of his majesty for the fourth quarter. He rang the period in with a tough, and-one layup, then went on to score 13 points in the first 3:52, which spearheaded a 17-8 run that flipped an 89-83 deficit entering the fourth into a 100-97 advantage. Then, after a brief rest, there was the 22-foot pull-up that made it 110-105 Bulls, two free throws to make it 112-108, and a dime that set up a Vučević fastbreak layup to make it 114-108.
DeRozan finishing with 40 points (19 in the fourth) on 16-for-24 shooting not only marks his third 40-point game of the season — it also means he shot 15-for-18 after that 1-for-6 start.
3. DeRozan has now scored 30-plus points in seven straight games — extending a streak that was already the longest of his career — and 35-plus in six straight, the third-longest in Bulls franchise history. You can guess who authored the two streaks he trails.
Even more impressively, DeRozan is shooting a whopping 61 percent in the 35-point streak, and hasn’t shot below 50 percent in any of those games. That hasn't been done in NBA history since Wilt Chamberlain in 1960-61 and 1963.
“The shooting percentage is just mind-boggling,” Billy Donovan said of DeRozan’s efficiency.
4. DeRozan also clearly carries with him a deep respect for the Spurs organization and head coach Gregg Popovich, with whom he spent the last three seasons. He donned gray and silver sneakers for the game in what he noted was a nod to San Antonio, and shared a few friendly barbs with Popovich during stoppages throughout the contest.
After the final buzzer sounded, DeRozan, Donovan and Popovich all shared a moment on the court.
“Pop had a great line, he said (to DeRozan): ‘You playing any defense?’” Donovan joked of the interaction postgame. “I said, ‘Pop, he took a charge last game!’ It was great.”
"Pop took me in, treated me with the utmost respect as a human being before I was even a player," DeRozan added. "The relationship that transitioned over the time that I was there (in San Antonio) was amazing, one I'll never forget. I'm honored to be able to say I played with Gregg Popovich. I learned so much from him."
5. Vučević’s 25 points, 16 rebounds and five assists can’t be forgotten. Again, he was at his best scoring inside, shooting 8-for-10 in the paint but 1-for-7 from 3-point range, and his playmaking provided a trusty release valve from the persistent double-teams San Antonio lobbed at DeRozan.
“They run around trapping him (DeRozan) and Vooch is getting the ball in the middle of the floor, he’s able to make a play, he can drive it, he can kick it, he can make the next play,” Donovan said. “I’ve always said this about Vooch: There’s opportunities for him to go score sometimes a little bit more, but he’s such a team-oriented, pass-first guy that I think that, if you’re a guard or a perimeter player, you love playing with him. Because he’s so unselfish.”
The Bulls’ center is now averaging 23.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and shooting 59.3 percent in his last 13 games. We’ll keep printing that until he slows down.
6. DeRozan, Vučević and White accounted for 89 of the Bulls’ 120 points. Add in Ayo Dosunmu’s 12 and Javonte Green’s seven, and the starters were responsible for 108.
Impressive, but also a nod to the team’s decimated depth chart.
The bench, meanwhile, mustered just 12 — eight from Troy Brown Jr., four from Derrick Jones Jr. — on 5-for-14 shooting. Spurs guard Lonnie Walker IV outscored the Bulls’ reserves on his own, and by a substantial margin, finishing with 21 points on 9-for-17 shooting.
7. Give Brown Jr. credit, though. He snapped an 0-for-12 shooting streak over his last two games by going 3-for-5 from the field and 2-for-3 from 3-point range — and he continued to scrap on the boards, pulling down six rebounds.
8. The Bulls’ defense was the story of their Jan. 26 loss in San Antonio, when the Spurs shot 52.6 percent and torched them to the tune of 16-for-37 (43.2 percent) from 3.
In this one, the Spurs made just six of 20 3-point attempts (30 percent), while the Bulls shot 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) — a massive swing stat in the game.
9. That’s not to say the Bulls’ defense was markedly better than in these teams’ first matchup. The Spurs still sliced and diced the Bulls’ perimeter defenders off the dribble to the tune of 70 points in the paint.
10. Green returned after missing one game with a foot bruise, and though he shot just 2-for-6, he pulled down nine rebounds and logged 35 minutes. For as frenetic as his playstyle is, he’s also resilient.
Next up for the Bulls: Home for the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. Then, a much-needed reprieve awaits in the form of the All-Star break.
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