‘Win. Whatever it takes.’ DeMar DeRozan’s 4th-quarter heroics power the Chicago Bulls to a 111-107 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Brooklyn Nets.
After three quarters at the Barclays Center, Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan seemed set for a relatively average night on offense — 16 points, two assists and two rebounds. But that’s not how DeRozan works when it comes to the final 12 minutes of a game.
DeRozan devoured the fourth quarter for the second time this week, helping overtake the Brooklyn Nets to power the Bulls to a 111-107 win, their second of the season over the top-ranked team in the Eastern Conference.
The forward scored 13 points in the final quarter and assisted Lonzo Ball for a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 5ive-point lead with 16.9 seconds left as he dictated the tone and tempo of another comeback win for the Bulls.
“In my mind, it’s just win,” DeRozan said. “Win. Whatever it takes. My mindset just shifts. I’m not thinking about failure. I’m not thinking about missing shots. Everything is just about being aggressive. Whatever the result is after that, I just lock in and turn into something else mentally.”
For the Bulls, the momentum fully swung in the fourth quarter at the end of a haphazard sequence of mistakes and missteps by both teams.
It all happened in a matter of 13 seconds — and it started with rookie Ayo Dosunmu.
The second-round draft pick out of Illinois flew back as Cam Thomas took a layup after a Nets steal, throwing his body skyward to smash away the shot with a block. Troy Brown Jr. snagged the loose ball to push into transition, only to have Patty Mills rip it away at the opposite end.
When Mills passed to James Harden, Lonzo Ball was lying in wait, tapping the ball out of the guard’s hands for a steal. Ball dumped a pass immediately to DeRozan under the basket, only for Paul Millsap to knock the ball out of bounds to finally end the play.
One block and three steals later, both sides seemed frenzied. But the Bulls harnessed the chaotic energy to their benefit, posting a quick five-point run to take only their second lead of the game. Although the Bulls never pulled ahead by more than four points, they held onto their advantage through the final whistle.
“The one thing you have to have to be a really good team is what these guys have,” Donovan said. “They’ll fight, they’ll compete and they’ll really try. They’re resilient, they’ll bounce back and they’ll try to dig their teeth in and fight. I love that competitive spirit about the guys.”
The first half was defined at the glass. The Nets — who rank last in the league in offensive rebounds — clobbered the Bulls on the offensive boards, snagging 11 through three quarters.
Uncharacteristic mistakes also plagued the slow start for the Bulls. Alex Caruso and Nikola Vučević miscommunicated on a switch, leaving James Harden unguarded to knock down his first 3-pointer of the game. Zach LaVine — who scored a game-high 31 points — fumbled a simple rebound out of bounds. The Bulls finished the first half with six turnovers, five of which were forced by Nets steals.
The Nets managed a six-point lead in the first quarter despite a quiet opening from Kevin Durant — who went 1-for-7 to start the game — fueled by a trio of unanswered 3-pointers to open the scoring.
But Durant’s streak of misses didn’t last long. The forward went 5-for-7 on his ensuing run of shots, finishing with 28 points to lead the Nets.
The Bulls’ first half also was punctuated by defensive adjustments following an injury to Caruso.
The guard almost didn’t play because of a strained right hamstring, making the decision to start after warming up with the team. Caruso scored a pair of 3-pointers but still visibly favored his right leg throughout the first quarter before being pulled by team doctors after eight minutes.
The early exit heightened the Bulls’ depth problems with two players already sidelined because of COVID-19. Coby White didn’t travel to New York after returning a positive COVID-19 test Wednesday, and Javonte Green drove back to Chicago on Friday night after testing positive as well.
Dosunmu shouldered a more critical role in White’s place, soaking up extra transitional minutes to finish with 11 points. Dosunmu’s versatility showed up in critical moments — blocking the first shot in the game-changing sequence of turnovers, flying high for a dunk in transition and finishing a blocked DeRozan shot in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The rookie hit a free throw to give the Bulls a two-possession lead with 9.3 seconds left, effectively icing the game.
Caruso’s injury called up Derrick Jones Jr. into the main lineup. Without two of his most influential bench players in Caruso and White, Donovan tapped Tony Bradley, Alize Johnson and Troy Brown after several games without minutes for all three players.
Although he celebrated the win, Donovan said the first half emphasized the team’s need for areas of improvement for future matchups.
“I was even from the bench trying to find combinations of guys to play with tonight,” Donovan said. “But we have to keep getting better. That’s my biggest thing. ... We’re capable of being better. And I’m not taking anything away from Brooklyn. They’re a terrific team. They’re (in) first place for a reason. But there’s a lot of things that we didn’t do well enough tonight that we had control over.”
