The Bulls today won 120-109 against the Spurs for four straight wins.
Facing the old owner, DeRozan, who has been in hot form lately, showed no mercy to his subordinates, playing 34 minutes in the whole game, shooting 16 of 24, shooting 8 of 8 from the free throw line, and having 40 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists. In the final quarter, DeRozan scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting to help the Bulls win four straight.
Before today's game, DeRozan has scored 30+ in six consecutive games and 35+ in five consecutive games, setting a new career record and second only to Jordan in Bulls history. After cutting 40+ today, DeRozan has 35+ in six consecutive games, which can be ranked third in team history. If another 35+ are scored in the next game, DeRozan will tie Jordan for second place and is expected to break Jordan's record of 35+ in 10 consecutive games.
It is worth mentioning that in the past 6 games, DeRozan's shooting rate has exceeded 50%, and he has scored 35+ with more than 50% of the shots in 6 consecutive games, which Jordan has not been able to do. Unfortunately, deRozan scored 45 and 38 points against the two strongest teams, the 76ers and the Suns, respectively, and both turned out to be empty cuts.
Before today's game, DeRozan was also the Eastern Conference's best of the week last week, leading the Bulls to a 3-1 record last week, averaging 36.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game and shooting 59.8 percent from the field.
So far in February, DeRozan's personal performance has been quite good, scoring more than 28 points in 9 games, averaging more than 35 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game. If he continues like this, DeRozan will not only bring the Bulls back to the top of the East, but also hope to compete for MVP.
In addition to DeRozan, Kobe White was also brilliant today, shooting 6-of-11 from the field in 34 minutes and 5-of-6 from three-point range to 24 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, killing the game with a three-pointer in the final moments. In LaVine's absence, Bryant White played well as a second scoring point, and 24 points also tied his personal season record.
In the past six games, White has also scored double digits. With DeRozan acting like Jordan, plus Kobe, the Bulls won naturally.