10 observations: Bulls snap skid behind DeRozan, Vučević originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bulls (28-15) entered a Wednesday night home bout with the Cleveland Cavaliers (27-19) severely shorthanded, and riding a four-game losing streak.
They exited with a much-needed 117-104 victory that featured big scoring outings from DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević, and some opportunistic playmaking down the stretch.
“Last couple games, not having guys, getting out butt whooped,” DeRozan said, “We knew we had to make up for it.”
Here are 10 observations:
1. The Bulls exited an uneven first quarter trailing 29-24, but it was DeRozan to the rescue in the second.
In that period, which the Bulls won 34-20 to build a nine-point halftime lead, DeRozan scored 16 points on sublime 7-for-10 shooting, burying everything from midrange fallaways to contested runners. He had a game-high 18 points at the break, then book-ended the third quarter with an and-one layup at the front,…