PORTLAND – DeMar DeRozan rarely goes to Twitter to express an opinion.
Luka Doncic changed that for the veteran Bulls forward on Friday.
After seeing that the Dallas All-Star guard put down a season-best 73-point night, DeRozan picked up his phone, and let his feelings be known.
“Somebody going to score a 100 before the season over!” DeRozan wrote.
It might not be as far-fetched as it sounds.
Whether it’s the league’s ever-changing rules to favor offense or just the ridiculous skillset that the top players in the league now possess, DeRozan has been around long enough to know what the NBA was like when he first stepped into the league back in 2009 isn’t what it looks like today.
“The skillset is so incredible now,” DeRozan said. “The pace, the more possessions, amount of threes. When you got players that are so dominant at what they do … You look at a ‘Book’ (Phoenix’s Devin Booker), a Joel (Embiid), look at Luka, these guys are so dominant and so great and so skilled, also understanding and know how to manipulate the game to their benefit as well. That just comes with your IQ. That’s just the evolution of the game.”
An evolution that has now seen four of the top 13 single-game scoring performances come in just the last two seasons alone.
Of course there’s Wilt Chamberlain and his 100-point game in 1962 atop the mountain, followed by Kobe Bryant’s 81 in 2006, Chamberlain with 78 in 1961, and now Doncic sitting fourth.
But Doncic’s not even alone in the 70 club this season, with Embiid hitting 70 points just last week against the Spurs. Then there’s three players with 60 points or more this year, and eight in 50-plus game territory.
“The rules help it,” Bulls guard Coby White said. “But I feel like the game changing helps it a lot. Now everybody is positionless. Spacing, game is a lot faster, more possessions, more threes are going up. With more threes and faster pace, more turnovers and fast breaks.
“The game has changed. It helps the person who is scoring a lot, with the rules and how the game has changed.”
That doesn’t mean White has his eyes on 70 anytime soon. Heck, he struggled just to remember a 52-point performance back in high school.
The same for DeRozan, who does have a 52-point game on his NBA resume, but considering all of his AAU and Drew League playing time, one would guess that at least a 60-banger was somewhere out there.
“I know in high school I hit 50-plus a few times,” DeRozan said. “I don’t have a 70. Trying to think if I even had a 60. Nah, I’m 50s.”
Still not a bad accomplishment for the resume and what will also likely be a Hall of Fame career for DeRozan when it’s all said and done.
Which brings DeRozan back to his feelings that somewhere out there is a player that can put up another 100-point night, and maybe sooner than later. Whether it’s Doncic, Booker, Embiid, Kevin Durant or maybe a player not even on that level of the scoring radar.
It’s coming.
“I rarely Tweet, but I Tweeted (after Doncic’s performance) that someone is going to score 100. I believe it,” DeRozan said. “Like someone is going to score 100 points because of the simple fact that guys can get incredibly hot in such a short amount of time.
“It doesn’t surprise me anymore when I pick up my phone and you look down and see somebody with 40 at halftime. When I first came into the league, 40 was a big deal (for the whole game). Now guys are coming out of halftime with 40 points.”