DeRozan stays hot, leads Bulls past Hornets
DeMar DeRozan often says he loves to hoop.
He's been seen frequently on the sidelines of other games, whether it's the Sky, Glenbard West vs. Sierra Madre, or Ayo Dosunmu night in Champaign. He sometimes talks about being a longtime fan of an opposing player.
You might say DeRozan is a basketball connoisseur. So does he ever stand back and admire his own masterpiece like an artist would?
DeRozan is on an incredible run of scoring mastery. He scored 36 points Wednesday on 13 of 19 shooting in the Bulls' 121-109 victory at Charlotte.
"Maybe down the line I'll probably do that, but I don't," DeRozan said. "To be honest with you, I don't look back at it. I just try to go out there, compete every single night to the best of my abilities and let the outcome be whatever it be.
"It's something I never really look back on or try to duplicate what I did the previous game. I just go out there and try to win every single night."
It would be difficult to pick a favorite among DeRozan's recent efforts. He's shot at least 50% from the field in 10 of the last 12 games, while averaging as robust 33.1 points.
Zach LaVine added 27 points and got ready for the 3-point contest by hitting 5 of 10 attempts, while center Nikola Vucevic piled up 18 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists.
Keeping Vucevic involved in the offense has been a challenge at times for the Bulls. In this game, he had just 2 shots at the midway point of the second quarter, and made them both.
"Offensively, we've got to play through Vuc," DeRozan said. "Relieve a lot of pressure from us trying to handle the ball so much at the top of the key with teams pressuring us. When we can play through Vuc like that offensively, we can get a lot of open shots, backdoor cuts, layups. So that was definitely beneficial."
The Hornets dropped their sixth straight game, with five of those losses coming at home. With his brother Lonzo not available to guard him, LaMelo Ball dropped 33 points and 9 rebounds.
After losing three times during a four-in-five-nights stretch, the Bulls needed a win like this, that wasn't really close in the fourth quarter. They have four straight home games coming next before the all-star break.
"I still think that we've got to keep getting better," coach Billy Donovan said. "What's happened is, we're just not going to be able to go these next four games going into the all-star break and after just playing eight guys.
"It's too much on DeMar and Zach. They've been great and carried a huge load. We're going to have to get some of these other guys to continue to step up just to provide - if not making shots, at least defensively."
The Bulls (34-21) got some help from the bench in this one, with Troy Brown Jr. scoring 8 points and Malcolm Hill 6.
Coby White was back in the point guard role in his home state of North Carolina because Ayo Dosunmu was sidelined by a concussion. Dosunmu collided with teammate Matt Thomas while diving for a loose ball against Philadelphia on Sunday, but Donovan said the rookie guard didn't feel any symptoms until after playing in Monday's game against Phoenix.
The NBA trade deadline arrives Thursday at 2 p.m. It's unlikely White will be dealt, but he made a pitch after the game for sticking around.
"I just go with the flow," White said after scoring 15 points. "It is what it is. I would love to be here. I love playing for this team, we've got a chance to do something special. At the end of the day, it's a business and some things you can't control."
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