Chicago Bulls wing DeMar DeRozan said he was ejected near the end of Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors after taking exception with Raptors forward Pascal Siakam’s attempted late three in an already decided In-Season Tournament contest.
“I don’t care about no In-Season Tournament points, none of that. Just respect for the game,” he told reporters after Chicago’s 121-108 loss, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. “If the score was flip-flopped and I had the ball, hold it. It is what it is. … Just everybody was yelling at him, ‘Score, score, score.’ Take the win. Get out of here.
“Like I said, if roles were reversed, needing In-Season Tournament points or not, just for the respect I have for my opponents, I hold the ball. Especially if there’s no shot clock. That’s just me.”
As the clock ticked down, Siakam had possession of the ball and looked confusedly in the direction of the Raptors’ bench. He then quickly drove to his left before attempting a step-back three that didn’t drop. After center Jakob Poeltl was fouled on the ensuing rebound, DeRozan gestured toward the Raptors’ bench, and their head coach Darko Rajakovic could be seen responding, “In-Season Tournament.”
While point differential is a tiebreaker in the tournament, the Raptors had already been eliminated before tipoff due to the Orlando Magic’s win over the Boston Celtics earlier in the day.
Chicago was eliminated with the loss to Toronto. The Bulls dropped to 5-12 on the season and have now lost six of their last seven.
When DeRozan was asked if this is the most frustrated he’s been since joining the Bulls, he told the Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe, “Yeah. I mean, I can’t fake it. I’m frustrated. Beyond frustrated. I feel like it’s rightfully so as a competitor.
“Everybody in this locker room is frustrated. But it’s from a good place of just being a competitor and wanting to figure (it) out that bad. Just put a couple wins together and with that I really truly believe that they can shift everything for us.”
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