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The Chicago Bulls trailed by 22 points in the third quarter on Monday night before mounting a massive comeback road win against the Sacramento Kings 113-109.
Spearheaded by 28 second-half points from DeMar DeRozan and a career-high 37 points from Coby White, the Bulls shut off the Kings’ attack and scored 36 points in the final frame to complete the comeback.
At the same time, the Kings absolutely melted down in the final minutes. Domantas Sabonis fouled out with 2:57 remaining. The Kings scored one point the rest of the way. They had three turnovers in the final 100 seconds. The let time run off the clock rather than fouling the Bulls to stop the clock, force them to the line and get the ball back.
It was a massive collapse, but credit to the Bulls for capitalizing.
• Coby White’s push for Most Improved Player is back on track. White has struggled since the All-Star Break, averaging 16.4 points on 30 percent shooting and 24.4 percent on threes. But he finally snapped out of his five-game mini slump.
After going scoreless in the first quarter, White finished with a career-high 37 points on 14-of-19 shooting, 5-of-9 on threes and 4-of-5 on free throws. He had five rebounds and six assists.
White regained confidence in his shot, looked aggressive attacking the basket, getting to the rim and the foul line.
• DeMar DeRozan scored just five points in the first half.
Then, he went nuclear.
Scoring 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter alone, DeRozan finished with 33 points and had a dominant showing in the clutch.
White’s career night will get the majority of the attention, for good reason, but DeRozan’s steady hand secured the win to go with it.
• Ayo Dosunmu scored seven of the team’s first nine points and had 15 in the first half. Much of his damage was done on straight line drives to the basket.
Dosunmu finished with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting and crossed the 2,000 career points threshold.
• Domantas Sabonis is shooting 72 percent at the rim this season. He’s one of the most efficient rim finishers in the league with a set of bulldozing moves setting up his soft touch.
He missed nine shots at the rim and generally could not get himself going in the painted area.
Sabonis fouled out with 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting with 20 rebounds in 32 minutes. His 36.8 field goal percentage represents his fourth lowest figure of the entire year.
• Despite returning from a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury in the Bulls previous game, Alex Caruso was listed as questionable ahead of Monday’s matchup with the Kings.
Caruso also divulged to NBC Sports Chicago that he has been playing through a tendon injury in his right thumb, which has been affecting his shot. Since February 1, Caruso is shooting just 30 percent on threes.
He was 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-6 from three for two points against the Kings on Monday night.
• Torrey Craig (knee) has been out since All-Star Break. His initial timetable was two-to-four weeks, but was working out on the court in Sacramento during Monday’s practice.
Billy Donovan told traveling reporters that a return on this four-game road trip was not out of the question. Getting Craig back would be a massive lift for the Bulls, who are scraping the bottom of the barrel at the power forward position with injuries up and down the lineup.
• The Bulls (39-32) remain locked into the 9th seed, with the Atlanta Hawks 2.5 games behind them in 10th and the Indiana Pacers 4.5 games ahead of them in 8th.
— Up next: Bulls continue their road trip in Salt Lake City with a matchup against the Jazz on Wednesday night.
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