CHICAGO — Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan texted Zach LaVine after Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers, sending his absent teammate a simple, four-word message:
“Get your ass back.”
There’s no doubt the Bulls have missed their leader as they returned this week from an unplanned COVID-19-related hiatus. DeRozan and LaVine have been the league’s top-scoring duo, and one without the other is like peanut butter without jelly.
But LaVine won’t return from his stint in the NBA’s health and safety protocols until after Christmas, and with four others out because of the virus, it’s incumbent on DeRozan to carry more of the load, just as the burden was on LaVine to step up during DeRozan’s COVID-19 absence.
That seems to be a task DeRozan is more than willing to assume, as evidenced by his play in back-to-back games at the United Center.
The Bulls continued to shake off the rust Monday in a 133-118 win over the Houston Rockets at the United Center, improving to 19-10 with one game remaining until the possible return of the cavalry next week. DeRozan finished with 26 points, and Coby White added 24.
Aside from the five players in the protocols, the Bulls also were missing Derrick Jones Jr., who sprained his left hamstring early in Sunday’s game, and they got another blow Monday when Alex Caruso left with a left midfoot sprain six minutes into the first quarter.
That meant extended minutes for reserves White, Alfonzo McKinnie and Devon Dotson. DeRozan scored 16 first-half points to lead the Bulls to a 73-54 lead, picking up where he left off Sunday.
Coach Billy Donovan said Jones’ injury wasn’t too significant and is not expected to be long-term, but he likely will miss Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors and be re-evaluated after the Christmas break.
DeRozan’s fourth-quarter barrage of midrange jumpers in his 38-point effort Sunday made it look like he hadn’t missed a beat, drawing praise from Lakers veteran Carmelo Anthony.
“The midrange game is a lost art, and DeMar is one of the guys who mastered that,” Anthony said.
That DeRozan excelled was no surprise to the Bulls, who changed the culture of the locker room with his arrival.
“He’s obviously been incredibly elite his whole entire career,” Donovan said of DeRozan’s ability to dominate. “But in particular for us, he’s been elite in those situations when he gets (in his spots). When he has room and space and he can survey the floor, he’s more than willing to read the defense and make the next-best play if it’s not an area he can get to for himself.”
The Rockets snapped a 15-game losing streak when they beat the Bulls on Nov. 24, so this was a chance for the Bulls to exact revenge. The Rockets have played better since, but it was a chance for the Bulls to fatten up while they wait for the team to be whole again.
DeRozan has proved he’s capable of leading in LaVine’s absence. He heard “M-V-P” chants at the United Center on Sunday, and he said he takes pride in being the man the team turns to when the game is on the line.
“It’s an honor to be trusted in those moments,” DeRozan said. “I never take it for granted. It’s an adrenaline rush that you can’t duplicate, so you try to make the most of it every time you’re put in that position.
“For me, I love it. It’s fun. You’ve got to take the good with the bad, and I’m willing to take both.”
Sometimes numbers lie, but in DeRozan’s case, they confirm what you’ve seen with your own eyes the first two months of the 2021-22 season.
DeRozan entered Monday’s game with a league-leading 8.2-point fourth-quarter average, while he’s only 22nd in fourth-quarter playing time with an 8.8-minute average. His fourth-quarter shooting percentage (53.8%) ranked second to the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (54.1%).
And while Antetokounmpo also leads the NBA with an average of 3.0 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, DeRozan is second (2.4) and makes his count, hitting 91.2% of his free throws in the quarter to Antetokounmpo’s 68.1%. Among the league leaders, only the Sacramento Kings’ Harrison Barnes is more efficient in the fourth at the line with 92.7% accuracy.
Over the last 25 full seasons, no player has averaged eight or more points in the fourth quarter while shooting 50% or better from the field and 90% or better from the line.
The Bulls haven’t had a closer like DeRozan since, well, guess who?
In NBA.com records that go back to 1996-97, Michael Jordan led the league in fourth-quarter scoring average that season and in 1997-98, averaging 7.1 and 7.3 points, respectively. Those were Jordan’s final two seasons with the Bulls, and of course they ended with the second and third titles of their second three-peat.
Jordan was three years older in ‘98 than DeRozan is now, and the game was much different, with more low-post rim protectors like Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo. But DeRozan’s fourth-quarter free-throw shooting is much higher than Jordan’s 81.9% in ‘97 and 76.4% in ‘98.
And the quality DeRozan brings along with his scoring prowess is his ability to create positive energy on the court.
“The one thing about DeMar, he really understands the importance of team chemistry and how critical and important that is,” Donovan said. “I do think players can create that. … The better you know somebody, the more you’re invested in somebody, the more you’re going to fight for each other.
“And when you’ve got a player like DeMar, with the caliber and the level he’s at doing that, he’s really endeared himself to all the guys on this team because of who he is as a man and as a professional.”
