Through one game, DeMar DeRozan’s second half of the 2021-22 NBA season looks exactly like the first half of the season.
DeRozan scored 37 points – 15-of-21 from the field — to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 112-108 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night at the United Center. And “The King of the Fourth” did his thing down the stretch.
Chicago trailed 108-105 when DeRozan nailed a jumper to make it a one-point game with 46.9 seconds left. After the Bulls got a stop, the NBA MVP candidate drained a go-ahead jumper while being fouled, and proceeded to make the free throw to give the Bulls a 110-108 lead. That would serve as the game-winner.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBulls/status/1497050416089116709
By scoring 37 points and shooting 71 percent from the field, DeRozan extended his NBA record streak of games with at least 35 points and at least a 50 percent field goal percentage to eight games. This has been an absurd stretch from DeRozan:
Additionally, DeRozan becomes the seventh player in NBA history with eight straight games with at least 35 points, and he’s just two games shy of Michael Jordan for the Bulls’ franchise record.
And he’s likely to join Jordan as the only NBA players in the three-point era to average 35-plus points while shooting at least 55 percent from the field in a month.
Oh, and the victory extended the Bulls’ winning streak to six games. They currently have the top record in the Eastern Conference at 39-21.
The basketball world had a lot to say on DeRozan’s latest unbelievable performance. Here’s a look at some of the tweets:
These Hawks assistant coaches look so dejected seeing DeRozan do his fourth quarter thing. pic.twitter.com/65r8C76PWd
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) February 25, 2022
I could make the argument that DeRozan has single-handedly willed this team to at least 10 games (and that's being conservative).
10 of these Ws become Ls without DDR, and if so, the Bulls are below .500 and in the play-in race.
He's been that important to this team.
— Mark K (@mkhoops) February 25, 2022
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.