The Chicago Bulls are defining themselves by their fourth quarters.
It’s unsurprising for a team that relies on their offense the way the Bulls have come to do. In a monthslong stretch of diminished defending, that final quarter is the make-or-break stretch of winning a shootout. And it also is when All-Star DeMar DeRozan becomes nearly unstoppable.
The Bulls’ 42-point fourth quarter was the difference in a 134-122 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday at the United Center. It anchored the best offensive performance of the season as the Bulls finished with a season high in points and shooting efficiency (63.2%).
DeRozan’s presence in the fourth quarter was typical — 17 points in 12 minutes to cap a 35-point performance, his 18th game of the season with 30-plus points.
That performance helped to balance an off night from Zach LaVine as he continues to play through back spasms. LaVine struggled to muscle around Patrick Beverley and winced in visible pain after several plays throughout the game.
In seasons past, a 12-point, six-assist night from LaVine typically would have accompanied a blowout loss. But instead, the Bulls offense operated at its highest efficiency of the season — even without LaVine at his best.
“That happens,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Zach’s an elite scorer in this league and has been for quite some time, but if he has a game like that you’ve got to try to generate good shots. “I think the guys are trying to help each other and complement each other. They’re very, very unselfish based on who’s playing well.”
The Bulls typically are cited as a small-ball team, but their big men elevated the offense against the Timberwolves.
Nikola Vucevic extended an efficient run of scoring as he continues to operate as the axle of the offense, spraying passes from the paint to the perimeter. Vucevic shot 11-for-14 in a 26-point performance, using his length and agility to trade shots with Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 27 points.
As teams continue to shade more heavily toward LaVine and DeRozan, seams have begun to open wider for Javonte Green. The forward ripped through those lanes Friday for crunching dunks and took advantage of loose help defense to hit three 3-pointers from the corner, finishing with a career-high 23 points.
Although Green’s presence has been critical on the defensive end, the forward’s increased scoring recently has helped to balance the offense.
“(Javonte) is just a hard-hat guy, a hard worker,” guard Coby White said. “He just plays extremely hard, does whatever the team needs. It’s just what he does. He lives to hoop. You can tell he loves it by how hard he plays.”
The Wolves are in a defensive slump similar to the Bulls’, but Beverley’s defense was an antagonistic nuisance throughout the game. He leaned into players’ ribs and slapped at the ball, stripping a steal off LaVine’s hands in the third quarter and sprinting back downcourt to talk trash in LaVine’s face.
DeRozan finally gobbled up the challenge in the fourth quarter, welcoming a double team as Beverley ducked low into his hip before firing a floater over both players’ heads. As DeRozan trotted back up the court, he held his hand up in the “too small” gesture Beverley often uses, grinning as both players traded barbs.
Despite the offensive highs, the game offered another example of the Bulls’ growing pains on defense without injured guards Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball.
The Timberwolves hammered the rim through Towns and Anthony Edwards (31 points), making only six shots outside of the restricted area in the first half while staying level with the Bulls. Edwards created a challenge, powering through double-teams with a unique combination of speed and aggression.
Although the Bulls managed a comfortable win with their big fourth quarter, Donovan said the game offered a gut check in his team’s physicality defending at the rim.
“You’ve got to meet him at the rim physically, and I’m not talking about fouling him,” Donovan said. “I’m talking about verticality (or taking a) charge. There was too many creases and cracks for him to get down. We were there but we weren’t there physically. We’re around him but we need to put our body in between him and the basket.”
With Edwards scoring easily in the first half, the Bulls relied on a second-half spark from their youngest stars — White and rookie Ayo Dosunmu.
White missed all three of his attempts from behind the arc in the first half, making one of his two shots of the half off “luck” when the ball bounced off the side of the backboard and into the net. But White kept shooting with a dogged determination that has become his style, finally finding a rhythm to sink six 3-pointers after halftime and finishing with 22 points.
In his first game back from a concussion, Dosunmu had 14 points and 10 assists in his 15th game as starting point guard. He cemented the win with a steal and throw-down dunk to give the Bulls a 10-point lead with 7:22 left, letting out a rare celebratory shout to punctuate the swing in momentum.
“We have so many great players on our team and so many guys who can do so many different things,” Dosunmu said. “Now it’s all about gelling together and putting that together. At point guard, it’s my job to make sure I put guys in position to be successful, and tonight was an example showing how many guys we have that are capable of doing things at a high level.”