The Chicago Bulls will look to ride the momentum of a victory over one of the NBA’s top teams into Friday night’s home game against the cellar-dwelling Detroit Pistons.
DeMar DeRozan had a huge hand in rallying the Bulls to their fourth win in five games on Wednesday night. He scored 10 points in overtime and finished with 42 overall in Chicago’s 119-113 victory against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bulls showed resolve by rallying from an 11-point deficit with less than three minutes to play in regulation.
The Bulls should take that to heart, considering they lost 133-118 to the Houston Rockets — one of the worst teams in the NBA — on Monday.
On Wednesday, Zach LaVine made four 3-pointers for the second time in his last three games. Two of those came during the final minutes of regulation.
The Bulls have won 11 straight contests against the Pistons. Detroit’s most recent victory over Chicago was on March 10, 2019.
The Pistons snapped a six-game skid overall with a 121-101 victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Alec Burks made his first 10 shots from the floor and sank six 3-pointers to highlight his season-best 32-point performance. Saddiq Bey also drained six shots from beyond the arc to finish with a season-high-tying 28 points.
Hamidou Diallo collected 11 points and five rebounds off the bench before he joined teammate Killian Hayes and Orlando’s Moritz Wagner in being ejected for their roles in an ugly skirmish in the second quarter.
Before the game, Detroit coach Dwane Casey praised Diallo for the enthusiasm he brings when asked about the contributions of Diallo and former Kentucky teammate Kevin Knox II.
Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanovic, who is averaging a team-leading 20.7 points, was limited to 14 on 4-of-14 shooting Wednesday. He is shooting just 35.1 percent from the floor over his past four games (20 of 57).
