(670 The Score) After his latest absurd display of efficiency, Bulls star forward DeMar DeRozan shared an analogy that was fitting for a man who’s also a big boxing fan.
“I’m not no knockout puncher, but I want to wear you down because I know I can go the length, however long I need to go,” DeRozan said.
He has done that as well as anyone in the NBA this season. The latest heroics came Monday at the United Center, where DeRozan scored 19 of his game-high 40 points and had a pair of key assists late to rally the Bulls to a 120-109 win against the Spurs. DeRozan did his damage in a manner that left coach Billy Donovan and his teammate astonished again, as he shot 16-of-24 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line while adding seven assists.
With the performance, DeRozan continued to make history. He now has reeled off six straight games with at least 35 points and with 50% or better shooting, matching Wilt Chamberlain in 1960-’61 and 1963 for the longest such streak in NBA history, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“It’s not only the ability to score at the level that he does,” Donovan said. “It’s the IQ … He’s like not really forcing anything. He’s making the right play.
“We’re trying to get ball movement and player movement and things like that in the game, and he gets that into the game when he puts the ball on the floor and he creates and he gets into the paint. The thing about him is he understands how he’s being defended, what’s going on. He’s like always taking inventory. I think his brain is just like a computer.”
A lot has gone into the 32-year-old DeRozan’s mastery of his craft as he’s averaging 27.9 points and shooting 51.5% this season. In addition to the experience of being in his 13th NBA season, he referenced how he pays close attention to his rhythm, which is connected to how he catches and gathers the ball, how much lift he gets on each shot and how it comes off his hands.
Beyond that, DeRozan has grown in his understanding of what represents the right basketball play.
“It’s definitely concentration,” DeRozan said. “I try to make a conscious effort of understanding of not just going up there shooting shots. I always analyzed myself early in my career when I scored, and I used to shoot a lot – a volume shooter. I used to always wonder why I had that label, how you get that label and how you can get away from that label. And that’s just understanding shot selection, what you work on, rhythm and extreme concentration out there. There’s so much that goes on in a play for me, when I’m in those moments. Every shot that I take is a shot that I work on. I’m not just shooting a shot to be shooting it. I just try to lock in every time it’s time to score.”
He’s doing a lot of that lately, to the delight and amazement of those around him.
“I just can not believe how efficient he is night in and night out,” Donovan said. “That when he gets to his spots and areas of the floor – not that he’s perfect – but the shooting percentage is just, it’s mind-boggling to me. That’s what’s so impressive. It’s not necessarily the numbers of the points that’s impressive. It’s the efficiency at which he’s scoring the points, because he’s also getting his teammates involved too.”
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.