It was about three and a half minutes left in the second quarter of a game Sunday the Bulls looked like they were losing to the Detroit Pistons, without a score their first seven possessions, trailing by double digits nine minutes in to a team with seven consecutive losses, under water still by nine entering the second quarter.
And then some eight minutes later as Ayo Dosunmu was handing off the rest of the second quarter baton to Bulls scoring star DeMar DeRozan after just throwing up a pass on the break for a Zach LaVine lob dunk, the Bulls were speeding comfortably ahead and would not trail again on the way to a 119-108 victory.
DeRozan led the Bulls with 29 points, but he also understood it was less his contribution that had those Pistons misfiring.
“Ayo was big,” said DeRozan, who also had four blocks, though regarding the latter statistical aberration the reputations of Bill Russell and Dikembe Mutumbo are safe. “I checked in for him and told him first thing coming out, ‘That second quarter was because of you.’ The energy he brought, getting out in transition, getting those layups, getting those steals. I let him know without him that quarter wouldn’t have happened.”
Dosunmu had four points, two steals and one assist during that eight-minute run, but like with the injured Alex Caruso whom Dosunmu was replacing, the statistics and box score were just numbers without life and lithe. Even if Dosunmu somehow managed a plus-19 during his stint of 7:50. Because the Bulls then turned the game around and inside out with a 20-2 run in that stretch featuring the Bulls’ frenzy faction’s hustle, activity and, as the French say, savoir de vivre. Or as the young Michiganders might say, “UP there.” You know, Upper Peninsula.
Nikola Vučević finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds and Zach LaVine had 19 points.
But it was play from a group that mostly included Dosunmu, Andre Drummond and Coby White that flummoxed the young Pistons guns. Drummond finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds in 15 minutes, pushing around a smaller Detroit interior without injured center Jalen Duren. White had 16 points and seven assists and Dosunmu finished with a season-best 13 points and three steals.
Primarily it was their disruptive play that led to the Bulls’ 25 points off turnovers (nine for Detroit), the fourth consecutive game the Bulls have accumulated at least 20 such points forcing opponent mistakes. Led by Dosunmu, the Bulls recorded a dozen steals, which was enough to offset a Detroit rebounding edge of 49-40 and 24 Pistons second-chance points as their athletic young players had 16 offensive rebounds. But the slumping Pistons are an erratic shooting group and managed the same 11 three-point shots made as the Bulls.
Though the formula for success for the Bulls in the rare Sunday evening game matched pretty much what is perhaps destined for this group. As much as coach Billy Donovan preaches the ball movement and drive-and-kick sequences to enhance offense and even said he liked the way the team was playing despite the poor start because of its unselfish efforts on offense, this group’s business card is going to have the rough edges. They’ll win less by outscoring teams than outplaying and outlasting them. As they did against those Pistons.
“Ayo gave us a huge boost,” Donovan agreed. “I think our bench gave us a really good boost. I closed with (Dosunmu) because I thought he was playing well on both ends of the floor and playing well defensively.”
Dosunmu’s game high plus-19 was testament.
Though when Caruso returns, which could be Monday in Milwaukee or soon after from a toe strain suffered in practice during the three off days, it’s unclear what becomes of Dosunmu’s playing time. He’s been the 10th man out much of this season in Donovan’s favored usual nine-player rotation with the additions of Torrey Craig and Jevon Carter.
The third-year guard who agreed to an extension this past summer to return to the Bulls had his first double-digit scoring game Sunday in by far a season-most 27 minutes. Just about every Dosunmu statistical marker this season has been easily a career low.
Which also is, in part, one reason the Bulls signed Carter and Craig. After a highlight rookie season, the Chicago native and U. of Illinois product took a step backward last season being square pegged into the round hole known as point guard for the Bulls. Dosunmu seemed to become more cautious and tentative trying to figure out the role. But now with White and Carter taking more point guard responsibility, Dosunmu has been able to draw on his strengths of speed in transition, finishing and especially getting into the paint on the run and dropping off passes.
“Last year was a learning and growing experience for him,” said Donovan. “Sometimes when younger guys have immediate success they start to get guarded differently and they have to figure things out, and Ayo had a great summer on the things he needed to work on. Some of the challenges he had last year helped him evolve into who he is today.”
So when the Bulls fell behind, Donovan gave Dosunmu a try with that group. And when they had the success they did even as the Pistons got within a basket a few times in the third quarter and as close as 102-98 midday through the fourth, Donovan this time stuck with Dosunmu. And the bulked up 6-foot-4 guard had a nice finger roll score on the next possession. And then the big guys pulled away for the Bulls with LaVine and Vučević threes and another fadeaway score from DeRozan.
“We were missing shots,” noted DeRozan. “We were telling guys, ‘Stay with it, it’s a good shot, don’t get discouraged. Just play.’ That’s what we did, and when the second group came in they led the way, brought the energy, getting downhill, getting aggressive on both ends, gave us the extra spark. That’s the beauty of being called a team. Guys picking up different areas where we need to get picked up from and following the lead from there and that’s what they did tonight.”
Particularly Dosunmu, who wears a mask of serenity and solidity no matter the emotions churning inside. And the sensation and excitement pulsating outside.
“It shows we have a very deep team and any given night your number can be called, so you just have to be a true professional and be ready to seize the moment,” said Dosunmu. “Me coming off the bench, I have a unique way of viewing the game. I can see what the game needs and what’s lacking and I try to push the pace, buck up the energy, read closeouts, when to shoot it and when to pass it. I’ve worked a lot on being more comfortable with the ball in my hands, playing off the ball; pretty much being prepared for anything, whatever is thrown at me.
“You train like you are playing 40 minutes because you’ve got to be prepared,” said Dosunmu. “So I try to go into each game, each night like I’m playing 40 minutes, and when the opportunity comes to seize it.”
With the win, the Bulls moved to 4-6 and after Monday’s game have an opportunity to gain some ground in the standings with four home games in the next week, two each against Orlando and Miami. And put this erratic start behind them.
“The passion, I don’t think a lot of people get to see it with the guys (like I do),” said DeRozan. “I’m more proud of that than anything. On the outside, I know a lot of people look at it like it’s a lot of chaos, it’s this, it’s that, ‘Oh, the whole team meeting thing.’ And everything. But every guy in this locker room wants to win, everyone wants the best for one another and it’s just for us honing in and finding that balance of bringing it every single night. For me, what I’m mostly happy is every single guy having that passion and wanting to win.”
And 72 more to go.
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