3 players score over 20 led by DeMar Derozan: Chicago Bulls beat New Orleans Pelicans

DeMar Derozan led the way for the Chicago Bulls tonight, helping them defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 114-106 at Smoothie King Center.

With Zach Lavine out for the season, DeMar Derozan took it upon himself to be the leader of the Chicago Bulls. At 34 years old, he still is capable of taking over a game and putting on a vintage performance.

Deebo did that tonight, as he scored a team high 24 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 7 assists. He also hit the dagger 3 pointer with 30 seconds left to put his squad up by 5.

Nikola Vucevic finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Ayo Dosunmu had 21 points, 8 assists, and 8 steals. Coby White scored 16 points while Alex Caruso ended with 12 points.

The Pelicans were without CJ McCollum for this game, so Brandon Ingram led the way with his 22 points. Zion Williamson almost finished with a triple double, recording 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists. Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 17 rebounds while Herb Jones recorded 15 points with 4 made triples.

This win improves the Bulls to 27-30, which makes them 9th in the Eastern Conference. Chicago is now 2 games above the 10th seeded Hawks and this win snaps a 2-game losing streak. They are 5-5 over their last 10 games and will look to build off this win on Tuesday against the Detroit Pistons.

Meanwhile, this loss drops the Pelicans to 34-24, which makes them 6th in the Western Conference. New Orleans is now 0.5 games away from falling into the play-in tournament so this loss is huge, as every game from here on out is significant for standings purposes. They are 7-3 over their last 10 games and currently on a 2-game losing streak, so they will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they face off against the New York Knicks.