The Chicago Bulls undefeated preseason remains intact following their 102-101 victory over the division-rival Cleveland Cavaliers. It marks their second win over the Cavs this preseason but proved to be much tougher to come by. Despite entering into the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, they found themselves needing to rally late to be victorious.
Luckily they roster someone who you might say was made for this moment. No, it wasn’t Zach LaVine. Nor was it Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, or any of the vets acquired this offseason.
Instead, it was second-round rookie, and Chicago native, Ayo Dosunmu who came up big for his hometown team down the stretch. He led the comeback and helped seal it with some tough shots in the waning minutes.
Chicago Bulls avoid first loss of the preseason thanks to hometown rookie Ayo Dosunmu
Dosunmu finished the night with nine points; all coming in the fourth quarter. He played under eight minutes, all of which also came in the final frame. The 6-foot-5 former Fighting Illini and Morgan Park alum went 4-for-7 from the floor and hit 1-of-2 threes. He hit back-to-back layups to put them up by three, just enough to hold off Cleveland.
A pair of clutch buckets from Ayo Dosunmu win it for the @chicagobulls! pic.twitter.com/fllSYByrYk
— NBA (@NBA) October 11, 2021
DeRozan actually led the team with 23 points and was efficient in doing so. He shot 52.9 percent from the floor and was a surprising 2-of-3 from three-point range. The former San Antonio Spur and Toronto Raptor also had four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
LaVine took a backseat in this one, shooting the ball just 13 times. He was a little off, going hitting just 35.7 percent of his attempts and going 1-for-4 from deep.
Both Vucevic (25.0 field goal percentage) and Ball (33.3 field goal percentage) had off nights but still wound up in double-digit figures. The former hauled in nine rebounds and had three steals while the latter had five boards and three steals of his own to go with three assists.
The Bulls had double-digit steals for the third straight game.
Dosunmu didn’t get in on the takeaway party and only had one board in his limited time on the floor. But he still made it all count. So far, he’s averaging 7.0 points on 50.0 percent shooting (33.3 three-point percentage) and 1.3 rebounds per game this preseason.
Alize Johnson (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Derrick Jones (10 points, four rebounds) both had really good nights as well. Johnson even drew praise from head coach Billy Donovan, who said postgame that the 6-foot-8 forward could see some time at center despite being undersized; a theme on this team.
The night, though, is just as much — if not more so — Dosunmu’s as anyone. Per NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson, LaVine said Dosunmu “has no fear”.
Who knows how much time he’ll wind up playing with the new-look Bulls this season. And who cares that it’s just the preseason. Dosunmu got to live out the dream many Bulls fans, almost certainly including him, have had before.