DeMar DeRozan's 50-point game carries Chicago Bulls to key OT win

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When DeMar DeRozan came back to the locker room on Thursday night, his teammate,Zach LaVine, sat and waited to present him with the game ball, because he had just willed the Bulls to a 135-130 overtime victory over the LA Clippers with a season-high 50 points.

The rest of the team went into a frenzy, mobbing him and dousing him with water after he got his prize.

The Bulls overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to beat the Clippers in overtime. It was his first 50-point game in over a year.

The win is more important than the loss, according to DeRozan after the game. You can see how tight the race is. We don't have enough room to be dropping any more games. That is my mentality.

The fourth quarter was not good for the Bulls. They trailed by three points with 7.2 seconds remaining when DeMar DeRozan got a free throw after being called for a foul by Terance Mann on an inbounds pass, making it a two-point game.

The Bulls put the ball in the hands of DeRozan again for the final play, and he made the free throw to win the game. He knocked down the first two free throws, but missed the third, sending the game into overtime.

DeRozan finished 17 of 26 from the field, 2 of 2 from 3 and 14 of 15 from the free throw line with six assists and five rebound.

DeMar is amazing. He apologized after the game for missing the free throw.

The Bulls needed a performance like that from DeRozan to keep pace in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Since the All-Star break, Chicago has lost 11 of its 17 games, but it has won three of the past four. The Toronto Raptors are currently the No. 6 seed in the conference and three games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers to avoid the play-in tournament.

The next three games for the Bulls are against teams that are ahead of them in the conference.

No matter who we play now, it will be this type of aggression and desperation. You cannot run from anything. I always want to play my best as a competitor.

In the middle of a career year in his first season in Chicago, DeRozan's production in March had slipped compared to the rest of the season. He had been averaging 25.8 points on 53.5% true shooting this month, a 10-point drop in both categories compared to his 34.2 points on 63% true shooting in February.

The Bulls have had six players score 50 points in a game, with the last one being LaVine in April 2021.

One of the most prolific individual scoring months in NBA history was finished by DeRozan. There were nine 50-point games in March, as many as there were from October to February.

"That guy for us is special, and he really is," he said. I give him a lot of credit for being able to focus on what he wants to do and how he plays. He was not happy when he missed the free throw at the end of regulation.

Some of those guys have an unbelievable level of focus and concentration. It is amazing to see him do it, even if things slow down for them or their concentration is heightened.