The Chicago Bulls will be without one vital DeRozan against the Miami Heat on Friday.
DeMar DeRozan said his daughter Diar, whose screaming Wednesday went viral and arguably contributed to the Toronto Raptors’ free-throw shooting woes and defeat, won’t travel with the Bulls for Friday’s do-or-die contest.
“Naw, she’s got to go back to school,” he told reporters after Chicago’s 109-105 win. “School first.”
During all 36 of the Raptors’ free-throw attempts, DeRozan’s daughter could be heard full blast attempting to throw off her father’s old team. The plan worked; Toronto went 18-of-36 from the line for a season-low 50%.
The Raptors’ worst free-throw mark this season before the game was 58.3%, when they hit 7-of-12 attempts against the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 5. They had never shot worse than 64.7% in games with at least 30 attempts.
Their 18 missed free throws are the second most by any team in the 2022-23 campaign, courtesy of ESPN’s Malika Andrews.
DeRozan, who said he allowed Diar to miss school in order to be in attendance Wednesday, didn’t even realize the screaming was his daughter initially.
“She went viral. … I kept hearing something during the game, and it was on a free throw, somebody missed and I looked back and I was like, ‘Damn, that’s my daughter screaming?'” he told reporters. “I was just making sure she was alright, though.”
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