DeMar DeRozan Draws Praise from NBA Twitter in Bulls' Win Over Trae Young, Hawks

The 1,000th game of DeMar DeRozan's NBA career was a memorable one.

The five-time All-Star led his Chicago Bulls to a 111-100 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Monday's potential Eastern Conference play-in tournament preview at the United Center. Chicago is still just 22-24 on the season, but it has won three in a row and is starting to look like a threat to the middle of the East standings.

Atlanta dropped to 24-24 with a second consecutive loss.

DeRozan finished with a game-high 26 points and took over for a stretch in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line, which led to plenty of praise on social media:

It wasn't a solo effort for the USC product, as six Bulls finished in double figures. Zach LaVine added 20 points, while Nikola Vučević (14 points and 17 rebounds) and Patrick Williams (18 points and 10 rebounds) controlled the boards with double-doubles.

Chicago's defense was also solid and held Trae Young to 0-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc while forcing 18 Atlanta turnovers.

Yet it was DeRozan who put the game away with a three-pointer, drive to the basket and vintage mid-range jumper during a span where he scored seven straight points for the Bulls in the later stages of the fourth quarter when the Hawks were attempting to close the gap.

It was enough to take the drama out of the finishing stretch and help Chicago extend its winning streak.

It will go for a fourth straight Tuesday with a road game against the Indiana Pacers.