By R.L. Bynum
Coby White may not have earned a spot in the NBA All-Star Game, but he continues to produce all-star quality performances.
White scored 33 points with seven assists and five rebounds Tuesday as he led host Chicago Bulls in a rally from a 23-point deficit to earn a 129–123 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the second half, White scored 30 points on 10 of 13 shooting with all seven of his 3-pointers and finished with a 25.1 game score, two games after scoring 35 points against Charlotte on Jan. 31.
“We started to make shots, and the crowd starts to get into it, get behind [us], and we changed the momentum of the game,” said White, who was 1 of 7 with three points in the first half. “But it’s not a fun way to live — digging yourselves in a hole. We’ve got to figure out a way to at least not make the first half and the second half look so drastically different.”
DeMar DeRozan also scored 33 points for Chicago as he and White combined for 51 of Chicago’s 66 points after halftime.
DeRozan interrupted White’s postgame television interview to yell that, “Coby White is a bad man!”
Minnesota led by 22 points at halftime and went up 74–51 with 10:32 left in the third quarter.
“Coby White is an incredible basketball player,” said Bulls teammate Andre Drummond, who had 16 points and 16 rebounds. “This is what he does. He was really big for us in that third (quarter), hitting a lot of big shots. Defensively he was great — it was an all-around great night for him. He was a great leader for us today.”
White scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, giving Chicago a two-point lead on a driving three-point play with 2:28 left in regulation.
White has five games with at least 30 points this season after never scoring more than 25 points in a game last season and eclipsing 30 once (31 points against Sacramento on Feb. 16, 2022) two seasons ago.
He may not be an All-Star, but he’s got to be in the conversation for the NBA’s most improved player.
Photo @ChicagoBulls
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