DeRozan passes Wilt with scoring streak, Bulls win fifth straight
Sure, some people were wrong about DeMar DeRozan being the summer's biggest free-agent bust.
But it's probably safe to say no one pegged DeRozan to break a record set by legendary center Wilt Chamberlain.
In the Bulls' 125-118 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday at the United Center, DeRozan became the first player in NBA history to record seven straight games with at least 35 points, while shooting at least 50% from the field in every one. He started the night tied with Wilt, who did it multiple times.
DeRozan finished with 38 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds on 16 of 27 shooting from the field as the Bulls headed to the all-star break with a five-game winning streak.
"The crazy thing, I felt like I missed 8 easy shots that I normally would have made," DeRozan said. "I felt like I had a bad shooting night, honestly."
Coby White, who celebrated his 22nd birthday with the team at shootaround, delivered a season-high 31 points to help make up for a quiet night by the bench. White went 6-for-11 from the 3-point line. Center Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and 10 rebounds.
After the game, DeRozan talked about how when he was little, his father made sure he watched every one of Michael Jordan's game during the Finals, and learned to dislike the Utah Jazz in the process.
"Just to be in the record books along with staples in basketball history (I'm) speechless," DeRozan said. "As a kid, as a fan of the history of the game, being in the league as long as I've been in the league, things like that continue to make me even more humble, being able to play this long and have these opportunities. Something I'll never take for granted."
One aspect of the game that seemed to bother most everyone in the arena was the lack of free throws by DeRozan. He didn't get to the line until the 26.6 mark of the third quarter. DeRozan shot his usual angry glances toward the referees, Bulls coach Billy Donovan complained from the sideline, fans complained from the front row.
As usual, the Kings sent a variety of defenders and frequent double-teams DeRozan's way. The officiating crew ignored plenty of contact on both sides, then the foul they finally called - a reach-in by Mo Harkless - seemed to be an incorrect call.
Anyway, those free throws gave the Bulls a 90-88 edge heading into the fourth after Sacramento used an 11-2 run to tie the score. DeRozan drew another shooting foul midway through the fourth on former Bulls and new Kings addition Justin Holiday.
"Tonight's performance was incredible just because of the length they had on the perimeter with Harrison Barnes, Harkless, just different guys they could throw at him," Donovan said. "He really hung in there, I thought hew had an opportunity to get to the free-throw line more than he did. But it was just remarkable how he stays in the game and everything about him is trying to win and trying to figure things out. He was really incredible."
DeRozan's season-low in free-throw attempts is 2. That happened in the season-opener at Detroit and again in the blowout home loss to Indiana on Nov. 22. He finished this game 5-for-5 at the line.
After a slow start, the Bulls started to pull away a couple of times, but never led by more than 9 until there was 2:20 left in the game.
The Kings were playing their fourth game with power forward Domantas Sabonis in the lineup. They made a surprising deal at the trade deadline, sending second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield to Indiana in return. Sacramento won its first two games with the new lineup, then were pounded by the short-handed Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
This was last game before the all-star break, but Sacramento seemed locked in early, scoring on its first six possessions while taking a 12-4 lead.
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