In the NBA playoffs, the Bulls lost 86-93 to the Bucks in their first game, and the Bulls' head card DeRozan was sluggish. In the whole game, he played 43 minutes, with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists on only 6 of 25 shooting, shooting only 25% of the way, plus or minus -5. In the final quarter, he shot 1-of-6.
Although the Bulls are not as strong as the Bucks, DeRozan's playoff debut performance is still a bit disappointing. After all, if the Bulls want to impact the Bucks, they must play better in their debut. With the Bulls not feeling ideally across the team, DeRozan, as the core of the team and as a veteran veteran in the playoffs, obviously needs to have a better performance on the offensive end, but it is not.
It is worth mentioning that DeRozan, who signed a three-year, $82 million contract with the Bulls last summer, has not performed well against the Bucks this season from the regular season to the current playoffs.
In the four meetings in the regular season, DeRozan's overall data against the Bucks is not bad, but in terms of efficiency and help to the team, the data as a whole is relatively pale.
In the first meeting, DeRozan performed well, with 35 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists on 9-of-18 shooting, the Bulls lost to the Bucks by 4 points, and DeRozan had a plus-minus of +1.
In the second meeting, DeRozan had 29 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists on 11-of-30 shooting, shooting 36.7%, the Bulls lost by 6 points, and DeRozan was -21 plus-minus.
In the third meeting, DeRozan had 21 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 10-of-23 shooting, shooting 43.5 percent from the field. But the Bulls lost miserably with a 28-point deficit, with DeRozan plus-minus -16.
In the fourth meeting, DeRozan had 40 points, six rebounds and four assists on 16-of-26 shooting, shooting 61.5 percent from the field. But in the final stage of the regular season, the Bulls lost by 21 points, the Bucks replaced the alphabet brother early, and DeRozan was -17 plus-minus.
Counting the playoffs, DeRozan has played five games against the Bucks this season, with an aggregate plus-minus of -58.
Plus-minus doesn't tell the whole story, but any stats from DeRozan in both fiascos pale out, and when the Bulls lost by a small margin in the first two meetings, DeRozan's overall performance was not particularly high, only in the first meeting.
Now, DeRozan is even more subdued in his playoff debut. Combined with the Bulls' performance against many strong teams such as the Warriors and the Suns this season, they have not been ideal, and even swept by the Nets, who have Durant and Irving, but their performance is undulating, for this reason, DeRozan and the Bulls have also been labeled as "unable to play the high-end game". Today, the fact that playoff debuts are so sluggish seems to confirm this even more.
Of course, this is only the beginning of the playoffs, and DeRozan still has a lot of opportunities to prove himself. But if it can't break out in the next game, the Bulls are afraid to be more passive, after all, "below the gram" is never an easy thing, especially for a team like the Bulls that is just starting up.