De'Aaron Fox hits game-winning trey to hand Chicago Bulls a heartbreaking loss
Kings guard De'Aaron Fox has been the most clutch player in the NBA this season and showed the Chicago Bulls why, as he sank a three-pointer with 0.7 of a second left to give Sacramento a thrilling 117-114 victory at the United Center. Apart from the heartbreaking shot that Fox made, the Bulls' loss was significant as it dropped them to 31-37, half a game behind the Washington Wizards in the race for the play-in tournament.
Clutch shotmakers
Bulls wingman DeMar DeRozan gave the Bulls a shot at coming away with the victory as he tied the game up at 114-all after an improbable four-point play with 11.6 seconds remaining in the fourth.
However, Fox—Sacramento's All-Star guard—responded with a three-pointer that found the bottom of the net with just 0.7 of a second to go.
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, who played instead of Alex Caruso who sat out due to an illness, tried to defend Fox as best he could, but conceded that the King star just made a better shot.
"I wanted to use my wingspan but not get too close to him because I didn't want to try to get a drive or a foul or a handcheck. I was trying to keep a good distance where I could still contest," Dosunmu said. "When he pulled up, I contested. Pat contested. He made a tough shot."
Deflating third quarter performance
Although Fox sank the dagger in the final seconds, the Kings made their mark in the third as they outscored the Bulls, 37-22, to turn a 10-point deficit into a five-point lead heading to the fourth.
"That's the disappointing part to me of the game," Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. "The start of the third quarter gave them a lot of momentum."
The Bulls certainly didn't help their cause by missing 13 straight three-pointers as they tried to break the zone defense the Kings were playing.
"They got out in transition. We weren't able to set our defense. They went to that zone and it slowed our offense down," LaVine said. "We gotta try to find an easy shot. They're going zone for a reason. Hit the middle and try to get a 3 or a layup instead of holding it and trying to figure out what's going on."
