Chicago Bulls use late surge to trounce Toronto Raptors 94 – 82 – NBA Recap
The Chicago Bulls used a late charge to blaze past the Toronto Raptors 94 – 82 on Wednesday. Playing in front of a hostile crowd at the Air Canada Center, the Bulls were trailing going into the final period but a swashbuckling display at the end left the arena, and the Raptors, in shock.
Super star Derrick Rose sat out once again for Chicago, which meant that the burden of scoring was shared throughout the team. Luol Deng was the most productive outlet, the forward scoring team high 17 points and grabbing 10 boards for his double-double.
Ronnie Brewer scored 12 while C.J. Watson netted 15, with John Lucas and Kyle Korver coming off the bench for 13 and 10 points respectively.
"This team, we have a lot of pieces that fit really well together. We all have different strengths and we try to play to our strengths and I think the fourth quarter tonight was about as well you can do playing to strengths." Korver said about the team’s depth.
DeMar DeRozan was the brightest light for Toronto in yet another disappointing display. DeRozan netted game high 23 points and also had 6 rebounds while forward James Johnson had 16 points with 7 rebounds. No other Raptors player managed to get into double figures.
The first quarter was largely even. The Raptors were just ahead at 13 – 9 when the Bulls used an 8 – 4 sprint to level scores at 17 – 17. The momentum carried the away side into a lead and they finished the period at 27 – 23.
Toronto had an early 6 – 0 burst in the 2nd segment to draw level at 29 – 29. A 13 – 4 burst just after the half way mark then catapulted them into the lead; 47 – 40. At halftime, the home team was up 51 – 43.
After the break the pace of the game slowed down as both teams concentrated on defence. The Bulls tried but never really were able to close down the gap and after the third frame still trailed 69 – 62.
Raptors though weren’t prepared at all for what was to come in the final 12 minutes. A massive 20 – 0 rally by the Bulls completely turned the game and left the Raptors shell shocked, the score 84 – 72. Toronto simply couldn’t recover from the furious Chicago charge and bowed out at 94 – 82.
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