DeMar DeRozan came through in the clutch in more ways than one.
The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks played for the third time in 10 days on Friday night. The two teams were expected to be in the same tier of Eastern Conference contenders this season, but they’re headed in opposite directions to start the year: the Knicks have been surging in Dec. to climb up to the No. 6 seed in the East, while the Bulls have lost so many close games to push them outside of the play-in picture as the conference’s No. 11 seed.
The talent gap between these two teams isn’t as big as their records would indicate, and on Friday they played another evenly matched game that came down to the wire. The Bulls won, 118-117, on late game heroics from DeMar DeRozan — and we’re not just talking about his buzzer-beating jumper to win the game.
The Knicks led by three with one minute left when Knicks guard Quentin Grimes was fouled and went to the free throw line. He missed both freebies. Zach LaVine scored two buckets inside the final minute to trim the Knicks’ lead to one, and the Bulls were forced to foul with seven seconds left to get one last chance to make it a one possession game.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson went to the foul line with a chance to put his team up three points. That’s when DeRozan decided to get in Brunson’s head. The veteran Bulls star started talking trash to the Knicks guard, who promptly missed the first free throw. DeRozan said something to Brunson again after his first miss, and wouldn’t you know it, Brunson missed the second free throw, too.
The Bulls were now down one with six seconds left. These are the situations where DeRozan truly shines, and he did it again to steal a win straight out of the Knicks’ hands.
The Bulls inbounded the ball to DeRozan. LaVine set a screen for him and the Knicks switched the action. DeRozan had Grimes on an island with the clock ticking down, got to his sweet spot just inside the three-point line, and elevated to drain the game-winner.
I can only imagine that DeRozan told Brunson he was going to win the game if the Knicks guard couldn’t make his free throws. That’s exactly what happened.
The Bulls have now won back-to-back games on the final possession after being terrible in the clutch all year. Those wins have elevated Chicago’s record in clutch situations to only 5-11. That’s still pretty bad, but maybe they’re finally catching some good luck. Having DeRozan on your side certainly helps.
