(670 The Score) In the aftermath of the Bulls' loss in overtime to the Raptors on Thursday evening, Chicago rookie guard Ayo Dosunmu was frustrated by two late turnovers of his that cost his team dearly.
Dosunmu also wasn't sure what to expect to hear from coach Billy Donovan about those miscues, as the two didn't speak about them until Friday morning.
"It's like one of those times when you get in trouble in school, you don't know how your parents are going to react," Dosunmu said.
It turns out, Donovan's response was simply to ask Dosunmu what he learned.
"I told him I picked up my dribble on the baseline and just had bad court awareness to end the game," Dosunmu said. "He was like, 'Cool, you got it.' I'm like, 'That's it?' He's like, 'Yeah.'"
Beyond the words, Donovan's answer was to put even more trust in Dosunmu. With the Bulls holding a 118-115 lead against the Pacers on Friday evening with 27.4 seconds left, Donovan drew up a play with Dosunmu initiating the action and star forward DeMar DeRozan involved. But with the Pacers giving DeRozan a great deal of attention late, Donovan had a hunch Dosunmu could exploit the focus being paid to DeRozan.
"The previous time we were in that spacing, they were really pressed up against DeMar – it was almost like they were going to deny that pass," Donovan said. "So we just told Ayo, 'Listen, fake it to DeMar and see if you can't turn the corner and get some penetration downhill.'"
Did he ever. Dosunmu threw down a thunderous dunk between two defenders to seal the eventual 122-115 win. It was a slam that will land on the season highlight reel and which left center Nikola Vucevic and others in awe.
"It just shows his character, the poise he plays with," Vucevic said of Dosunmu stepping up in the big moment.
"He's still a rookie, and to have to be thrown into the fire like he has at the start, on a winning team against some of the best players in this league that play at the point guard position, he does a great job for us every night defensively and offensively."
The dunk capped another strong night from Dosunmu, who had 15 points and a career-high 14 assists to help Chicago earn a win on a night in which star guard Zach LaVine sat out with back spasms. With the win, the Bulls improved to 33-19 and sit alone in first place in the East, a half-game ahead of the Heat.
Dosunmu had a simple mindset entering the evening: "Be better." He didn't want to let his team down again. In drawing up the game-clinching play, Donovan had full confidence that Dosunmu would learn and respond well.
"That exchange right there, that just makes me want to come out here and go through a wall for him, compete for him, because I know he believes in me," Dosunmu said of his earlier conversation with Donovan.
"I'm always even-keeled. Yesterday allowed me to come here and be better today. My confidence is always high. I put a lot of work into my game."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
