So there was our Bulls once again, seemingly bound in the footsteps of a basketball loss and potential humiliation after blowing a 16-point lead on Monday and still tied with less than a minute to play with this time the dastardly mustachioed villain – and I personally reject this tired fictional stereotype – being the pubescent Portland Trailblazers.
Yes, another Bulls cliffhanger with those postseason hopes in danger of being crushed.
But once again, it was a happy ending with Bulls hero DeMar DeRozan making a three-point play after Portland took a 105-102 lead with just over two minutes remaining, then the final free throws to end his match. a game-high 28 points after stripping a Portland switch and getting an inside pass to Nikola Vučević for a running baseline hook shot with 9.3 seconds left for a 108-105 Bulls lead.
Alex Caruso then intentionally fouled Portland’s leading scorer, Anfernee Simons, who had 30 points and 12 on the fourth-quarter comeback. Simons made both free throws.
And then Caruso made another one of his AI plays — not Allen Iverson, but artificial intelligence because the guy is like a super computer defensively — with a block on Simons with 2.4 seconds left. Simons had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but his long three was knocked out.
The Bulls moved within a game of the elusive .500 at 34-35 with a chance to return for the first time since Oct. 30 when they play at Houston on Thursday. The Bulls, who are 29-21 since late November, have not gone above .500 this season. They remain ninth in the Eastern Conference, three and a half games behind eighth-ranked Miami and four behind seventh-ranked Indiana with a home game against the Pacers on March 27.
It might not always be the best basketball, but it might be the most exciting.
“We have this collective belief that at the end of the game we’re going to find a way to play, whether it’s a rebound or a shot or a free pass, it doesn’t matter,” said Caruso, who returned from a game a sprained ankle (he was questionable before the game with a toe issue) early in the game to add three more steals and a block. “We’ve learned how to come back from a score of 20. We have some room to learn to play when we’re up 15 or 20 with a lead, which is probably harder than downplaying a score of 20. It’s in human nature to kick in. take the gas down and relax a little bit, so for us, keeping everyone focused and knowing how much time we have in games.
Nah, it’s more fun that way, even if it can be a little stressful.
And it was again with the Bulls controlling much of the game after taking their first double-digit lead in the second quarter.
The Bulls have an advantageous streak that is not doing much good for the NBA’s reputation with a series of games coming up against several teams like the 19-49 “Blazers, who mostly have to try to persuade the NBA that they are not playing to lose therefore they won” I will not be fined. They were without a group of veterans, like Jerami Grant and Malcolm Brogdon. Pull the rip cord, city. They are giving up this season.
Of course, the Bulls were also without their share with Coby White still out with a hip injury, of course joining Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams, and rookie Julian Phillips also injured. But the Bulls got another great game from Ayo Dosunmu with 23 points and 10 assists as White’s point guard, and 22 points and nine rebounds from Vučević. Andre Drummond got some team time late with Vučević with nine points and 11 rebounds, as well as a late accidental hit to the mouth that Bulls coach Billy Donovan said would require dental work.
Although the smacks in the mouth were the Bulls’ doing, much of the game.
Dosunmu, with his first consecutive career games of at least 20 points, got the Bulls off to a pair of threes in the second quarter supporting an efficient 4-of-4 DeRozan for a 54-49 lead at halftime. time after the Bulls broke away. 10 points earlier in the quarter. Then, adapting to a quick transition third quarter, Dosunmu express with his four breakout layups, the Bulls accelerated by 16 points and led 89-75 heading into the fourth quarter on a three-pointer. Onuralp Bitim.
The Bulls still had a 15-point lead early in the fourth quarter on a Dalen Terry three. Portland was cruising 3 of 17 from three through three quarters when their Snidely Whiplash, Simons, got hot from three, and what the heck, tie with 4:31 left, the Bulls trailing by three with 2:35.
But what is going on here!
I’m calling Mr. DeRozan, I’m calling Mr. DeRozan.
“I’m just really, really, really trying to take good care of myself,” DeRozan said of over 40 extra minutes as the 35-year-old leader’s league minutes played this summer.
Enough with this stuff about LeBron’s age; heck, no one is asking him to win every game like DeMar has to do most of the time. And LeBron takes days off; there is no rest for a never very tired DeRozan
“In the best way possible, I try to rest,” Ponce DeRozan later explained about his virtual fountain of youth game. “I don’t have any other hobbies that push me to exert energy. So I try to take care of myself as best I can. And I love basketball. I love playing this game no matter how many minutes. I love being there.
A good thing for the Bulls if not so much for their opponents with so many memorable moments this season, if only last week in Indianapolis the most monumental.
Talk about a guy who records knockouts.
“You know, the crazy thing is, I learned a technique years ago in swimming and boxing to be able to stay focused no matter how tired you are,” the 6-foot-6 DeRozan said. “Never panic when you’re in the water. And never let yourself overtly feel tired when boxing. These are two training methods outside of basketball that I take seriously every summer. I do this for years. So a lot Often, it’s in the late match moments that I’m able to control a lot of my effort. I know how to channel it elsewhere and I think clearly.
Which allowed DeRozan to make that vital drive for the three-point play after the Bulls fell behind and the Trail Blazers forgot to assist at the basket. Then there was that quick thinking pass to Vučević when Deandre Ayton came out to defend DeRozan, leaving guard Dalano Banton (I know, right?) on Vučević.
DeRozan even had company for an audience in the form of his good friend and former Blazer Damian Lillard, who came from Milwaukee to watch his alma mater. And if you weren’t sure, he was wearing a sweatshirt that said Dame Dolla on it. I guess that’s the brand.
Then there were a few seconds of defensive survival mode, and so enter the stage right Caruso.
You often imagine Caruso as he’s playing in one of those breathless Spirit of 76s with explosions everywhere, carrying the tattered flag with that firm grip and those steely eyes.
And then thwart the opposition’s maneuvers.
It was 108-105 Bulls with 9.3 seconds left after Vučević’s score. Portland was coming out of a timeout and they were obviously going to Simons. He had big numbers, but he seemed to ignore everyone on the field. Earlier, he dribbled crazy long threes that he missed and almost never let go of the ball.
“Once he didn’t get the ball in the backcourt, I knew they were going to run some kind of play where they threw it to someone (Ayton) and tried to make him run and hit him again,” Caruso said. . “So once they did that, I tried to slow it down. Up to three, there’s not much time left for you to look like you’ve made a mistake. He fell half court. I didn’t like his foul look because he was square to the basket and looked ready to shoot. Once I saw when he shot, it’s a pretty routine play for me to be able to take the ball away as long as I’m at the right distance; instinct just took over.
That left Portland with two desperate seconds, and Anferee Simons, you’re not DeMar DeRozan.
As Bullwinkle once said, he’s not a guy to be taken for granite.
“Outsiders might (take it for granted); we certainly don’t,” Caruso said. “Really grateful to have him on our team. He’s a competitor. He goes out there every night and does his best to help us win the game. A lot of times, it’s about making the right plays at the end of the match. Sometimes it’s about more than just taking a photo. It’s big rebounds tonight, it’s boxing out against their guys crashing hard and then finding Vooch on the mismatch down low for the layup to keep us three up. He’s simply a winner at heart.
As Confucius said, go with all your heart. Or as Bullwinkle said, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat. Nobody seems to do it these days like DeMar DeRozan. It was magical.
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