It was a familiar sight for the Chicago Bulls.

When the Sacramento Kings took a six-point lead in the final minute, fans throughout the United Center began a defeated shuffle toward the doors in anticipation of the inevitable.

It didn’t matter that the Bulls fought back. And it didn’t matter that DeMar DeRozan sank a 3-pointer and drew a foul with 11.6 seconds remaining, tying the score with the four-point play. The Bulls had been trading blows with the Kings throughout the fourth quarter — bruising layups through contact from Zach LaVine, 16 points from DeRozan in the quarter.

But when De’Aaron Fox pulled up from 3-point range to fire off the game-winning shot with 0.7 seconds remaining, it was clear this story would end the same as so many others — a last-gasp, 117-114 loss as the Bulls slipped to 31-37 and saw their two-game winning streak end.

The loss cemented well-established narratives of this NBA season. The Kings are one of the best teams in the league in clutch situations — going 22-15 in games with a margin of five or fewer points in the final five minutes — and have the NBA’s best clutch offensive rating (129.3). The Bulls, meanwhile, are one of the worst, dropping to 12-23 in clutch games.

The Kings scored 37 points in the third quarter to swing momentum, outscoring the Bulls by 15 in the quarter.

“That’s the disappointing part,” Donovan said. “In the first two minutes, our lead was basically gone. You’ve got to be able to come out better. Our guys competed, but I think they set the bar and set the standard in that quarter.”

The Bulls dropped to 31-37 and back into 11th in the Eastern Conference, a half-game behind the Washington Wizards (32-37) for the final play-in spot.

The Bulls host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday and the Miami Heat on Saturday before traveling to Philadelphia to face the 76ers on Monday.

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