Staring down the barrel of yet another loss and a tie with the Toronto Raptors for sixth place in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls dug deep late in the fourth quarter to turn their fortunes around.
DeMar DeRozan and Co. trailed by eight points with just over two minutes remaining at the United Center against the Los Angeles Clippers, who welcomed back Paul George for the first time since December earlier this week.
Then came the magic. Nikola Vucevic hit a clutch 3-pointer to put the Bulls within five, and that paved the way for DeRozan to go off. In the final 6:36 of the game (including overtime), the veteran scored 19 points to finish with the first 50-point game of his career.
In the process, he became the first Bulls player with 2,000 points since Derrick Rose’s MVP campaign back in 2010-2011. That helped propel the Bulls to a 135-130 victory and sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
And the team celebrated appropriately after the colossal victory.
https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1509845599176245254?s=20&t=eC1GZrjxA42Os8Pssp1kwQ
Bulls celebrated DeMar DeRozan after epic comeback against Clippers
Come get the game ball, DeMar!! It’s only right. A perfect move from Zach LaVine to trick his teammate into accepting the honor without the appropriate consequences — getting soaked and mobbed.
DeRozan finished 17-of-26 from the field and hit 14 of his 15 free throws while adding six assists, five rebounds and a steal. Vucevic was next in like with 22 points and 14 rebounds and LaVine’s 21 played a big role as well. However, Alex Caruso’s +15 point differential while on the court (despite only seven points) was also a huge factor.
DeMar DeRozan had Stacey King speaking French 🤣pic.twitter.com/kVI00z0nZR
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) April 1, 2022
With five games left to go, the Bulls picked the perfect time to gain unstoppable momentum thanks to a morale-boosting victory against LA. Four games separate the Bulls from first place, two separate them from the No. 3 seed, and 1.5 separate them from the No. 4 seed. That’s important because any of those scenarios give the Bulls home court advantage in the first round.
With their next three games against the Heat, Bucks and Celtics, they have a prime opportunity to flip a few games in the standings. Then they have to finish strong against the Hornets and Timberwolves.
DeRozan’s 50-point performance against one of the better defenses in the league might serve as a turning point after the Bulls’ rough month of March.
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