© Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
"You got to be the desperate ones" - DeMar DeRozan urges Chicago Bulls after winning third game in a row
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With a 22-24 win loss record, Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan knows that the team has a lot of work to do if they want to make it to the NBA Playoffs. And with a favorable three-game stretch coming up against subpar teams, DeRozan is challenging his squad not to mess around and grab this opportunity to make a push for the playoffs.
“The second half of the season, you can't give games back. Everything matters from here in and out," DeRozan said. "You got to be the desperate ones. You got to go out there and compete.”
Take care of business
As impressive as the Bulls have been against some of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, such as the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Milwaukee Bucks, they have failed to take care of business against others outside of that elite circle. In fact, they're only 15-16 this season when going up against teams with a record below .500. They took a step in the right direction on Monday night when they defeated the Atlanta Hawks 111-110.
DeRozan had 26 points in his 1,000th career game, while Nikola Vucevic added another double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Zach Lavine scored 20, while Patrick Williams had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Work to be done
The first two meetings between these two teams ended with buzzer-beaters. The Bulls, though, did not let it go down the wire as they held the Hawks to 22 fourth-quarter points to pick up their third win in a row. Although the Hawks came to within three, the Bulls refused to budge and answered with a triple and two free-throws from LaVine, and another three-pointer from DeRozan to extend their lead back to 11 with a little over five minutes left in the game.
DeRozan and the Bulls know there's still a lot of work left to do, but they gained some momentum with these wins. With a favorable stretch of games coming up, DeRozan wants his team to stay focused and compete with desperation if they want a shot at making it to the playoffs.
