The Bulls had 10 blocks as Derrick Jones led with four, Ball with three and rookie Ayo Dosunmu with two. The Nets shot just 41 percent overall and made and attempted fewer threes with the Bulls annoying habit of blocking their view of the rim. The Bulls lead or are essentially even with the Nets in just about every major metric like margin of victory, offensive efficiency, effective field goal percent, true shooting percentage, and even rebound better despite being outrebounded 55-47 (23-4 in second chance points) Saturday.īut even with Alex Caruso going out early in the game after exacerbating his hamstring issue and Javonte Green joining Coby White with a Covid absence, the Bulls defense frustrated Harden into five of 21 shooting by repeatedly denying him in the lane and at the basket. It left the Bulls at 16-8, a half game behind the Nets for first place in the Eastern Conference almost a third of the way through the season and it's no fluke. It gave the Bulls the unique feat of sweeping the Lakers and Clippers in Los Angeles and the Knicks and Nets in New York, which no one else has done this season.
This was a special, if also sublime win, not just for the moment but for the accumulation.
We'd expect nothing else.īut if the evidence was fragmentary, the effect was fulfilling. Sure it's early and all those disclaimers, and Bulls coach Billy Donovan in his best sweat pants and whistle mentality cautioned not to make too much of any one win, how much work remains, how much season remains and how the Bulls have to keep improving. Lonzo Ball after sinking a massive three-pointer in the final moments of the game to push Chicago's lead to five with 17 seconds remaining in the game. When you have a group like this you can come in hostile environments and come out victorious." I tell these guys every time you have to live in the moment and appreciate it, can't take anything for granted. "It's difficult to win in this league, especially coming into two hostile environments on the road, playing against the best team in our conference, to withstand the blow we took from them the whole game (trailing by 11 midway through the third quarter), to buckle down in the fourth quarter and pull out a victory. "I'm proud of every single guy on that team night in and night out," DeRozan added. We don't shy away from them, we accept them.
It says a lot about our team, how resilient, (how) we approach challenges. I had utmost confidence when I saw him space up for that three. Ball didn't hesitate and swished the decisive three, going into a Steph Curry-like crouch as he watched the ball go through and even sprinting back on defense in a sort of Curry low crawl dance.ĭancing on the graves of the Nets? And remembering the days when Durant and Harden meant victory and not vanquished? The defensive-minded point guard had not shot well in the two New York games, three of 14 in Thursday's win over the Knicks and two of nine and one of six on threes before the pass from DeRozan with 18 seconds left. And 29 points later.ĭeRozan passed to Ball on the right wing.
The Nets used the seven-foot Durant to defend DeRozan for much of the game. He beat him (as everyone does), but that drew Durant to double team. He dribbled out of the backcourt, picked up by Harden (bad idea). Then after Durant smoothly lined in a three pointer to bring the Nets within 107-105 with 39.7 seconds to go, DeRozan took charge and the ball. Tap to watch highlights from Chicago's big 111-107 win over the Nets in Brooklyn.
#Day of infamy stats free#
Then DeRozan handed the scoring baton to LaVine for a pair of drives for points, LaVine with seven of his game high 31 points in the fourth quarter as his maturing game included 11 of 13 free throws, eight rebounds and six assists, both one short of Lonzo Ball's team high in the latter two categories.
#Day of infamy stats series#
It was the second Bulls win this season over the conference favorite Nets, the Bulls thus already with the season series win and, if necessary, playoff tiebreaker with an average victory margin of 13.5 per game and DeRozan and LaVine once again the more reliable duo in the final throes of competition.ĭeRozan, the NBA's fourth quarter scoring leader for the season, had 13 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, maneuvering deftly inside the three-point arc for jumper after jumper. 4, 2021 as a day that will live in infamy for the Brooklyn Nets, the day that the torch was passed in the Eastern Conference with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine again outplaying Kevin Durant and James Harden in Saturday's Bulls 111-107 victory over the Brooklyn Nets?