CLEVELAND — The moment Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan were both anxiously awaiting came early in the first quarter of Sunday night’s All-Star game.
LaVine, freshly checked in off the bench for Team Durant, sauntered up the court in semi-transition, ball in hand. He held up for a moment, waited for DeRozan to check him, and then went to work, crossing his Chicago Bulls teammate once, carrying him through a screen, then launching a stepback 3 over a half-hearted contest.
Swish.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"I seen it coming as soon as the pick came," DeRozan said after Team LeBron dramatically defeated Team Durant 163-160. "That's what he do."
DeRozan attempted to return the favor at the other end, iso-ing LaVine and hoisting a sidestep 20-footer from the baseline. It rimmed out.
"We said we were gonna get our little 1-on-1 game in," LaVine added, grinning. "I made my shot, he missed his. I’m up one... He won the game, but I won the 1-on-1 series."
NBA
From there, the Bulls' stars, along with everyone else on the floor, took a backseat as Steph Curry shattered the NBA All-Star game record for made 3-pointers with 16. Entering the night, that record was nine, but Curry had eight in each half, enthralling the crowd with logo launches and catch-and-shoot snipes, alike. With 50 points, he fell one 3 short of breaking the All-Star game scoring record of 52, set by Anthony Davis in 2017.
"It was amazing. I was looking for him (Curry) every time down," DeRozan said. "I wanted him to break the scoring record, that was our goal. So to be out there with him, especially a guy I got drafted with, same draft class (in 2009), competing, see the things he do, it still amazes me how he can do what he do."
"It’s Steph Curry, man," said LaVine. "There’s a reason he wasn’t in the locker room at halftime." (And was instead out on the court being honored as a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary team.)
But in the fourth quarter — when the Elam Ending format triggered a final target score of 163 and the intensity ratcheted up — LaVine and DeRozan had to be on the court.
They closed the final minutes of the contest on opposite sides, with DeRozan drawing free-throws on a jumpshot attempt over Devin Booker then nailing a midrange pull-up to get Team LeBron to 161 points, and LaVine submitting a five-point flurry (a dunk and pull-up 3) to cut Team Durant's deficit from 161-155 to 161-160.
"It means a lot," LaVine said of the opportunity to play the stretch run. "I think it shows the type of the players that we (he and DeRozan) are. We’re big-time competitors. I wanted to be out there at the end, I know he did too. That’s the fun part of the game, at the end of the All-Star game. It was a lot of fun, and it was close."
In the end, LeBron James drilled the dagger, a post turnaround over LaVine, who contested in earnest.
"I did the best I could," LaVine cracked, "but he made a great shot."
For those keeping track at home, DeRozan finished with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds, shooting 4-for-8 from the floor. LaVine notched 12 points, three assists and three rebounds on 5-for-7 shooting (2-for-4 from 3-point range), playing 11 combined minutes in quarters one through three, then an untimed stint in the fourth.
When asked how his left knee, which he recently had treated for lingering soreness, felt, he pointed to the 360 slam he threw down in the first quarter.
"Did I look OK?" LaVine said with a laugh. "The 360 looked alright."
So, too, did the Bulls' two stars, placing their fingerprints all over the grandest stage of the season so far. It was a night of celebration, and soon, they'll look to carry that momentum into the stretch run of the campaign.
"I've been in guys' ears, just expressing to them the importance of getting to this place and understanding the moment," DeRozan said. "Understanding, after the All-Star break, everything go like that (snaps fingers). You're gonna be able to see the separation from the good teams, the OK teams and the great teams that's fighting for something. What position do we want to put ourselves in?
"That's the next challenge for us. We got an opportunity to get back healthy, get some guys back, and we're gonna have our opportunity."