Chicago Bulls: DeMar DeRozan dismantles Lakers in his hometown

This set of back-to-back games at the Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers went about as smooth as possible for star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls in the past few days. DeRozan was really good for the Bulls in a 10-point win over the Clippers over the weekend.

But DeRozan actually got even better for the Bulls in a dominant win over the Lakers on Nov. 15.

In the win over the Clippers, DeRozan registered a game-high 35 points, seven rebounds, five assists, no steals, no blocks, and two turnovers. And he shot 12-of-16 from the field, hit on his lone attempt from beyond the arc, and went 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.

DeRozan couldn’t be stopped against the Clippers. And the duo of him and star shooting guard Zach LaVine came through with nearly 65 points combined in the win over the Clippers to round out last weekend.

In the win over the Lakers in the back-end of these back-to-back games late in the night of Nov. 15, DeRozan was even more productive on offense. He registered a game and season-high 38 points, three rebounds, six assists, one steal, one block, and three turnovers. And DeRozan shot 15-of-23 from the field, 2-of-5 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

DeRozan was on pace to have an even bigger scoring night than he wound up with in the win over the Lakers. But the Bulls started to take the foot off the gas a bit in the fourth quarter as they were beating the Lakers by 15-20 points most of the way.

In his return to his hometown of LA, DeMar DeRozan goes off for the Chicago Bulls

It was clear that the return to DeRozan’s hometown had an impact on his game in this set of back-to-back outings against the Lakers and Clippers. He registered two of his three highest game scores of the season in these wins over the Lakers and Clippers. DeRozan also had two of his whopping five games already this season with at least 32 points in a single outing.

Here are some of the other impressive numbers he registered in the win over the Clippers:

• 16.1 box plus/minus
• .840 true shooting percentage
• 28.0 assist percentage
• 160 offensive rating

In the win over the Lakers, here were some of the other impressive numbers from DeRozan:

• 11.9 box plus/minus
• .741 true shooting percentage
• 28.8 assist percentage
• 2.9 block percentage

DeRozan is clearly the Bulls’ most valuable player to this point of the season. While there were other players that were valuable to the Bulls in these back-to-back wins over the Clippers and Lakers, he was definitely the spark that made it happen.

This is what the Bulls needed in the wake of the absence of star center Nikola Vucevic, who is going through the league’s health and safety protocol right now. He’s likely got at least another five or six days the health and safety protocol before he can return for the Bulls.

Following the 121-103 win over the Lakers on the road on Nov. 15, the Bulls are now sporting an impressive record of 10-4. Next up for DeRozan and the Bulls is a meeting with the Portland Trail Blazers on the road on Nov. 17.