Tristan Thompson is new to the Chicago Bulls, but he's very familiar with the scoring exploits of DeMar DeRozan, who's in the midst of a historic heater. DeRozan gave Chicago a sixth straight win with a 112-108 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night, which was also Thompson's Bulls debut.

After DeRozan scored 37 points and hit the game-winning shot to beat the Hawks, Thompson gave him the Michael Jackson treatment, via ESPN's Jamal Collier:

“Smooth criminal,” Bulls center Tristan Thompson, who scored 11 points with six rebounds in his team debut, said about DeRozan. “That basket is looking the size of Lake Michigan right now for him.”

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“Smooth criminal,” indeed. Right when it looked like the Bulls were going to suffer a tough loss, DeRozan came to the rescue, knocking down consecutive mid-range jumpers to give them the lead. Javonte Green then iced the game at the foul line after Bogdan Bogdanovic missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer.

DeRozan has now made it eight straight games with 35-plus points on 50.0% shooting or better, which is an NBA record. Over this stretch, he boasts averages of 38.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 61.9% overall. This is a truly ridiculous run, and now Thompson gets to see it up close.

The newest Bull wasn't too shabby himself in his debut with the club. The veteran big man put up 11 points and six rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench, giving Chicago a spark it has often been missing from the backup center spot.