Raptors rally to beat Bulls
Last Updated: Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 1:17 AM ET
The Canadian Press
Whether it was Toronto's smothering defence or some awful shooting by Chicago, the Raptors earned a come-from-behind victory over the Bulls on Wednesday — and didn't need a pile of points to do it.
Chris Bosh had 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Raptors ended a two-game losing streak with a 99-89 victory over the Bulls. Jose Calderon added 18 points while Andrea Bargnani chipped in with 16 as the Raptors (4-4) fell just short of reaching the 100-point mark for a team-record eighth straight game.
Toronto came into the game as one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, but sat 28th in points allowed. After watching the Bulls put up 60 points in the first half of Wednesday's game, the Raptors limited Chicago to just 29 points over the final 24 minutes, rallying from an 11-point deficit to return to the .500 mark for the season.
Raptors head coach Jay Triano credited his team for blanketing Chicago's shooters but added that the Bulls might have been tired after dropping a 90-89 decision at home to Denver a night earlier.
"We switched our coverage a little bit [in the second half]," Triano said. "We just did a much better job of keeping guys in front and forcing them to take tough shots.
"I think they wore down a little bit, too. Shots they were making earlier, they started missing. Whether it was the result of a back-to-back, or Jose and Jarrett [Jack] doing a nice job of picking up full court and making them work to get the ball up the court … they just seemed to run out of juice."
Luol Deng and Taj Gibson had 18 points apiece for the Bulls (4-4), who lost their second straight following a three-game winning streak. Derrick Rose added 14 points, six assists and five rebounds.
The Bulls shot just 25 per cent (10-for-40) in the second half, including a 3-for-21 showing in the fourth quarter. Chicago missed its last 11 shots.
"We just couldn't make any shots, and that was it," said Rose. "It's really frustrating knowing that we had the game. We started off well, played defence and to have to lose by not making shots towards the end kind of hurt."
'One of his best games as a pro'
Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan set career-bests with nine points and nine rebounds, and Triano praised the rookie after the game.
"I thought DeMar was great," said Triano. "I thought DeMar in the third quarter really gave us a lift. He chased balls, rebounded and was aggressive. I thought he had one of his best games as a pro."
DeRozan brought the fans out of their seats with a thunderous one-handed dunk midway through the third quarter, and joked about it afterward.
"It made me feel young again," the 19-year-old deadpanned. "I'm getting my hops back a little bit. Chris has been questioning my hops, so I've gotta show him I can still jump."
Toronto trailed by one entering the fourth quarter, but kept things close for the first six minutes.
A Calderon layup with 5:27 left vaulted the Raptors into the lead before Bulls forward Joakim Noah was handed a clear-path foul for grabbing Bargnani's jersey as the seven-foot Italian was heading in for an uncontested shot.
Bargnani made both free throws, and Calderon hit a 22-foot jumper on the ensuing possession to give Toronto a 93-88 advantage.
Following a pair of defensive stops, Calderon added a wide-open layup with 2:57 left as the Raptors took their largest lead of the half. Bosh iced things with a tip-in less than a minute later, unleashing a scream of approval as the crowd erupted.
Toronto shot just 41 per cent from the field, but held the Bulls to 40 per cent while outrebounding them 41-40. The Raptors excelled at the free-throw line, going 22-for-23 in front of 16,310 at the Air Canada Centre.
Toronto opened a 27-25 lead after one quarter, but Chicago seized the lead on a Jannero Pargo layup four minutes into the second.
The Raptors answered with a 7-0 run to go back up 42-37, and the teams then traded the lead for the rest of the quarter until John Salmons hit a three-pointer from the corner with 1:51 left to put Chicago ahead 54-51. It was Salmons' only field goal of the game; he finished 1-for-11 from the field.
That ignited the Chicago offence, as Deng converted a tip-in and Noah added a dunk in the final minute to give the Bulls a 60-53 lead at the break.
