Chicago Bulls' DeMar DeRozan stays hot, eclipses Wilt Chamberlain's record scoring streak

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls All-Star forward DeMar DeRozan stayed on a roll offensively heading into the All-Star break and set an NBA record in Wednesday's 125-118 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

DeRozan scored 38 points on 16-for-27 (59%) shooting Wednesday, making him the first player in NBA history to score 35 points while shooting better than 50% from the field in seven consecutive games. DeRozan surpassed a mark set by Wilt Chamberlain, who put together two such streaks of six games in a row, the last of which came in 1963.

"Just to be in the record books along with staples of basketball history -- [I'm] speechless," DeRozan said following Wednesday's game. "As a kid, as a fan of the history of the game, being in the league as long as I've been in the league, things like that continue to make me even more humble.

"It's something I'll never take for granted. And the crazy thing is, I feel like I missed eight easy shots I normally would have made. I felt like I had a bad shooting night, honestly."

During his streak, perhaps going 16-for-27 is what qualifies as a bad shooting night for DeRozan. He is averaging 38.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists on 60.7% shooting in his past seven games.

DeRozan has also scored at least 30 points in eight consecutive games, the longest streak by a Bulls player since Michael Jordan in 1996. DeRozan is tied with Philadelphia's Joel Embiid for the longest streak of 30 or more points by a player this season.

Asked to describe his current scoring run and how locked in he feels, DeRozan replied: "I can't."

"I'll be honest with you, I can't. I can't describe it," he said. "It's one of those things where I'm completely locked in as soon as I come to work. Understanding, I want to be able to leave work with a win by any means necessary."

DeRozan's performance has helped carry the Bulls to five consecutive wins, despite fellow All-Star Zach LaVine missing the past three games to see a specialist in Los Angeles about his left knee injury.

With a win Wednesday, the Bulls enter the All-Star break, at least, tied with the Miami Heat for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

"I'm hopeful that we can get whole at some point, I think I'd like to see what this group can do whole," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "I am very, very grateful and appreciative, up until this point in the All-Star break -- we've had some really good moments and some not so great moments, which is typical -- the way these guys have continued to fight, regardless if it's been a win or a loss."

Comments

Video Of How 'Fake Klay Thompson' Got Past The Warriors Security And Gets Shots On The Court

The Golden State Warriors ended up winning Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics and took a 3-2 lead in the series. It feels certain that the Dubs will win this series and win their fourth NBA Championship in the last eight years. While winning the finals will mean a lot for every player on the Dubs' roster, it will certainly mean more for Klay Thompson. Klay was sidelined due to injuries over the last two seasons and made a comeback this season. Finishing off the season with a ring will certainly be the cherry on top for him. Speaking of Klay Thompson, an incident took place around a certain lookalike of the Warriors' sharpshooter. We are sure you must remember the 'Fake Klay Thompson' who got famous a few years ago. Prior to Game 5 of the series, Fake Klay snuck into the Chase Center and got shots up before the matchup began. NBA fans found this hilarious, but it seems like the Warriors organization didn't. He was handed a lifetime ban from th...

Dennis Rodman Once Said He, Michael Jordan, And Scottie Pippen Could Lock Up LeBron James: "LeBron Is So Easy To Play. He’s So F**king Easy To Play. He Doesn’t Have Any Moves."

If there is something that will never end it is the comparison between players from different eras. Even in that niche, most comparisons revolve around the legendary players from the Chicago Bulls. Yes, we are talking about the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. A perfect example of that was seen by fans back in a 2019 interview featuring Dennis Rodman. The Worm was asked about his thoughts on guarding none other than LeBron James. Rodman replied: (starts at 6:06) "You know who could lock up LeBron? Me, Mike, and Scottie could. F*ck yeah. I would have locked his a** up. LeBron is so easy to play. He’s so f*cking easy to play, he don’t have any moves. Only move he has is streak down the line. He ain’t got no moves. Where he going?? Where is he going that’s quick? That’ll be sh*t, you can stop that. Scottie Pippen would have shut his f*cking a** down quick before I get to him. His game is too simple, he’s just big. I’m 260 and 6’8” and 6’9”, that’s the onl...

Chris Paul blows fifth 2-0 series lead of career, an NBA record, and the legacy birds are going to be singing

The Phoenix Suns were gutted by Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 on Sunday, trailing by as many as 46 points in a 123-90 beating that somehow wasn't even as close as a 33-point margin would indicate. Chris Paul didn't make his first basket until the Suns were down by 40 at the 7:26 mark of the third quarter. He had one point at halftime. Finished with a completely useless 10 and a minus-39 for the game, the worst single-game point differential of his career. I don't want to make this about Paul's legacy. The Suns didn't lose because of Paul, though he surely didn't do anything to help them win. He was one of the five best point guards to ever play before this game tipped, and no, one game didn't change that. Paul's late-career surge has been a masterful chapter in a Hall of Fame career, and many of the playoff collapses to which he's been connected have been, at least to a degree, a product of some of the cruelest injury luck imagina...

Crossover World

Search This Blog