DeMar DeRozan has performed at an MVP level for the Chicago Bulls this season.

Now he’s on the verge of doing something that we’ve never seen before.

DeRozan scored a game-high 40 points on 16-of-24 from the field on Monday night, leading the Bulls (-2.5) to a 120-109 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

It was DeRozan’s sixth straight game with at least 35 points and 50 per cent shooting, matching Wilt Chamberlain for the longest such streak in NBA history.

Now DeRozan will get the opportunity to set a new record when Chicago hosts the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Tuesday Feb. 15, 2022.

 

DeRozan performing at an MVP level

Chamberlain put together two separate stretches of six consecutive games with 35+ points on 50+ per cent shooting – one in 1960-61 and one in 1963.

He never hit those marks in seven straight games.

While DeRozan will get the opportunity to do something that no other player has ever done on Wednesday night, he’s already made history at his position.

Chamberlain was a 7-foot-1 centre.

DeRozan is a 6-foot-6 small forward. 

There’s never been another player at the position to do what DeRozan has done over this six-game stretch.

It isn’t just what he’s doing, but how he’s doing it that makes the streak so spectacular.

DeRozan has scored 45, 38, 36, 35, 38 and 40 points over that six-game span.

Of those 232 total points, only nine points have been the result of three-point shots. He’s made just three three-point shots in those six games.

Perhaps most impressive is how good he has been in the clutch.

DeRozan matched a career high with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s win over the Spurs.

The 32-year-old leads the entire NBA with 431 fourth-quarter points this season.

For perspective, two-time NBA regular season MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is second on that list with 365 fourth-quarter points.

DeRozan, Giannis, Jayson Tatum, Stephen Curry and LeBron James are the only players in the entire association with more than 300 total points scored in the fourth quarter this season.

Of that group, only DeRozan and Giannis have shot better than 46.9 per cent from the field in the fourth quarter. DeRozan is at 55 per cent in the fourth quarter for the season.

The Bulls have now won four in a row and nine of their past 13 games to climb to within a half-game of the Miami Heat for the best record in the Eastern Conference at 37-21.

They’re two games up on the Milwaukee Bucks for the best record in the Central Division.

In terms of the futures market, the Bucks remain the favourite to win their division at +100, followed by Chicago at +220 and the Cleveland Cavaliers at +230.

Meanwhile, the Bulls are currently the fifth choice to win the Eastern Conference at +1600.

Four Eastern Conference teams – the Bucks (+550), Brooklyn Nets (+600), Philadelphia 76ers (+650) and Miami Heat (+1100) have significantly shorter odds to win the NBA championship than Chicago, which could still be found at +3000.

For perspective, that’s the same price to win the title as the Los Angeles Lakers, which are currently five games below .500 and the ninth seed in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, DeRozan is certainly in the MVP conversation at +3500, which is a shorter number than Luka Doncic (+4800).

However, he’s still an afterthought compared to Joel Embiid (+145), Nikola Jokic (+375), Giannis (+410) and Stephen Curry (+750).

Ja Morant (+1400), Devin Booker (+2700) and Chris Paul (+2700) all still have shorter odds as well.

Will that change if DeRozan breaks Chamberlain’s record on Wednesday night and continues to perform at the level he has all season?

The Bulls still have a tough road ahead of them if they are going to make any noise come playoff time.

That’s not the point.

The point is that what DeRozan has done this season is both special and almost entirely unexpected, especially when you consider his level of efficiency and the clutch production in the fourth quarter.

Maybe he doesn’t break Chamberlain’s record, and maybe he slows down after the All-Star break.

Or maybe not.

The bottom line is that, right now, DeRozan deserves to be in the MVP conversation. While we’ve seen an adjustment in the futures market, I’d bet that his MVP odds get even shorter the rest of the way.

 

Oilers, Maple Leafs roll to puck line wins

The Edmonton Oilers (-150) scored two early goals and cruised to a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.

Warren Foegele and Darnell Nurse found the back of the net in the first 7:10 of the opening period.

Connor McDavid put the game away with his 24th of the season less than two minutes into the third.

Stuart Skinner wasn’t busy, but he did stop all 20 shots that he faced for his first career shutout.

Evander Kane had four shots in his return to San Jose but didn’t pick up a point.

The Oilers have gone 7-2-1 since a seven-game slide that left them at 18-16-2 on Jan. 20, improving to 25-18-3.

Meanwhile, Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs (-280) bounced back from consecutive losses with a 6-2 win over the Seattle Kraken.

Toronto has lost more than two in a row only one time all season.