Torrey Craig looks back on DeMar DeRozan's game-winner over him

Torrey Craig tipped his hat off to DeMar DeRozan.

© Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

As any NBA defender knows, you can play your best defense, and it still might not matter. Rugged "3-and-D" specialist Torrey Craig knows this all too well, thanks to his experiences defending the league's best wingmen. This includes his new Chicago Bulls teammate, DeMar DeRozan, who burned him with an incredible buzzer-beating three-pointer back when he was still playing for the Indiana Pacers.

Almost had him

On that evening, Torrey had somewhat limited the Compton native, hounding him to a subpar 7-of-23 shooting night. With Torrey as the primary defender, DeRozan made just 4-of-12 shots. However, it all came down to one final possession. 

With the Pacers clinging on to a 106-105 lead, DeRozan sized Torrey up before sinking a one-legged triple to give the Bulls the improbable 108-106 win. Speaking on the Bulls Talk podcast, Torrey said there really wasn't much he could do except tip his hat off to DeRozan on that play.

"If you watched that game, I think was playing some of the best defense," Craig said. "When he made that shot off one leg, you can't do nothing but just pat him on the back and say, 'Good shot.' That's how it is."

Didn't feel so bad

As devastating as DeRozan's shot was for Torrey and the Pacers, the then-Pacers forward said what Deebo did for an encore somehow lessened the sting.

"Great players make great plays. And he's one of those players who made a great shot. And then he backed it up with another game-winner the following night. So I didn't feel so bad about it after that one," Torrey said, referring to the difficult game-winning three-pointer that DeRozan made against the Washington Wizards.