Chicago Bulls must find their clutch gene if they want to make the postseason: ‘We can’t think about how it’s been. You just fight.’

Last season, the Chicago Bulls were at their best with a thin margin and a waning clock.

The Bulls had the fourth-best record in clutch games, going 25-16 while shooting 48.4% in such situations. DeMar DeRozan became indomitable down the stretch, knocking down game-winning shots with an air of inevitability.

But this season, the result of a close game feels like a foregone conclusion. The Bulls entered their game against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night with the second-worst record (11-22) in clutch games — ones with a margin of five or fewer points in the final five minutes.

It’s enough to give a team whiplash. But DeRozan feels the cause is still a confusion — even with less than five weeks left in the season.

“The tide just isn’t turning for us when we’re in those positions,” DeRozan told the Tribune. “Last year, we had everything going our way.”

At least on paper, the Bulls don’t look like that bad of a clutch team. Their already low-volume 3-point shooting plummets in accuracy in clutch situations to 25.3%, the fourth-lowest in the league. But the rest of the Bulls’ clutch statistics are middling at worst — averaging in the top half of the league in made baskets (4) and rebounds (3.5) and top 10 in ball protection (0.8 turnovers), steals (0.7) and free-throw accuracy (83.5%).

There are a few clear weaknesses. The Bulls allow the sixth-most made field goals (2.7) in clutch time while snagging the second-fewest offensive rebounds (0.7), often keeping the Bulls on a thin margin.

“A lot of it’s come down to the final possession,” coach Billy Donovan said. “You can nail it down to those few moments that we can be better at both ends.”

DeRozan and Donovan both feel the Bulls have been able to put themselves in positions to win. Despite opponents’ clear desire to double-team Zach LaVine and DeRozan, the Bulls have been able to put both players into shooting positions in many of their clutch losses.

But in those close encounters, any mistake— one turnover, missed rebound or inaccurate pass — is enough to swing the game.

“There’s been games where we got the shot we wanted and missed,” DeRozan said, “then times we don’t execute the play how we wanted. It’s just so many factors that go into it. If it was just one thing we could pinpoint, we wouldn’t have made that mistake the next game.”

The basics of late-game strategy are simple: Get the ball in the best players’ hands and let them win it. But LaVine and DeRozan haven’t been able to bail the Bulls out.

That was clear in Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, when LaVine scored nine points in the final 5 minutes, 12 seconds only for the Bulls to fall125-122 when Tyrese Haliburton launched a winning 3-pointer from one step inside the logo.

The offense has often stalled out when DeRozan and LaVine attempt to lean too heavily into hero ball in the closing minutes, allowing opponents to swarm both stars. But the Bulls struggle to use the entirety of their roster in clinching situations.

“It’s easy to say we can come down, shoot the ball, have the ball in our hands, but we’ve got to understand how to use our teammates,” DeRozan said.

Whether he missed or made a game-winning shot, DeRozan said his confidence has never wavered in the closing minutes of games. But that belief has to extend to the rest of the team if the Bulls are going to grind out the wins necessary to sneak into the play-in tournament.

“So many of those instances came about where one play, one mistake, one bounce just didn’t go our way,” DeRozan said. “But you can’t really look at it like, ‘Ah, we’re in it again.’ We can’t do that. We try to go out there and win each new game. We can’t think about how it’s been. You just fight.”

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