Daughter of Chicago Bulls guard shrieking makes dad's former team miss 18 out of 36 free throws

TORONTO, Canada (KTRK) -- Few of us understand what it's like to shoot free throws in an NBA postseason game. But many of us can relate to being around a screaming child, right?

On Wednesday, those two things: free throws and a screaming child were a large part of a win-or-go-home game.

Diar DeRozan, the 9-year-old daughter of Chicago Bulls' guard DeMar DeRozan, stole the show at the play-in tournament with shrieks from the stands that went viral and quite possibly played a role in helping the Bulls defeat the Toronto Raptors 109-105 in an Eastern Conference elimination game.

The team's Twitter account named her Player of the Game.

Her ear-splitting shouts would come when the Raptors - her dad's former team - were shooting free throws, and they were loud enough even to become a conversation point during the ESPN broadcast of the game.

The Raptors finished 18 of 36 from the line in their season-ending loss. According to ESPN, Toronto's 18 misses are the most in any game in 26 years of the organization.

In a post-game interview, DeRozan mentions he let little Diar play hooky from school to help her dad's team.

"My daughter called me the other day when she was getting out of school, and she just said, 'Dad, can I come to the Toronto game?'" DeRozan said.

"I remember her going to all the Toronto games when she was a kid, and I almost said no because she's in school back home. But she kept asking. She was just adamant about coming to support, and I said, 'All right, you can miss one day of school and come to a game,'" he said.

"I'm glad I did," DeRozan said. "I owe her some money for sure."

The Bulls advanced to face Miami on Friday night in a win-or-go-home game, with a chance to make the playoffs and face No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks in Round 1 of the East playoffs starting Sunday.

Good news for the Heat: Diar's dad said she isn't going to Miami.

"No," DeRozan said. "She's got to go back to school."

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