This week has been wild for Bulls fans, as rumors and reports have been flying left and right about Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, but for the first time in a couple weeks there’s something to be smiling about. Friday night’s comeback victory over the New York Knicks not only extended the Bulls’ winning streak to three, but fans were treated to a DeRozan game-winning shot in the final second that came after his mind games led to Jalen Brunson choking at the free throw line.
In case you missed it, the Bulls entered the fourth quarter trailing 92-89, tying the game at 98 three minutes into the last period. Both teams went back and forth, with the Knicks never being able to put the Bulls away and then with 6.1 seconds remaining in the game, Brunson went to the free-throw line with the Knicks trying to ice the game leading 117-116.
DeRozan, the savvy veteran he is, had some words for the guard and whatever DeRozan said appears to have distracted Brunson, who missed the first free-throw attempt and then the second after DeRozan got in his head.
DeRozan got the rebound and after a Bulls timeout he called game.
Bang. 118-117 final.
DeRozan finished the night with 25 points and 10 assists, adding 7 rebounds. LaVine led the Bulls in scoring with 33 on 12-of-22 shooting, but we can’t forget the Knicks choking down the stretch.
Before Brunson’s missed free throws, Quentin Grimes missed a pair of free throws as well, when he went to the line with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter and New York up 115-112. But obviously the spotlight is on Brunson, who is shooting 89 percent from the charity stripe this year. He was already having a bad game against the Bulls, going 5-of-15 from the floor and his night got even worse with the two missed free throws in clutch time.
Brunson’s been off in December, only putting up 18.3 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting after averaging 22.5 points per game on 49 percent shooting in November.
As for the Bulls, it’s good to see them come together following their embarrassing 150-126 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last Sunday that also included a heated argument between LaVine and a few teammates. Their current three-game winning streak is the longest of this season and it’s their longest winning streak dating back to Feb. 9-24, when they won six games in a row.
Still, at 14-18, the Bulls have to keep digging out of the hole they dug themselves into this season to get back into relevancy before trade rumors completely take over the narrative of the team. It seems like the rest of the NBA is just waiting for the Bulls to fully implode in the next month so teams can pounce on trades.
Right now, though, the Bulls are at least showing some signs of life.
