Forward Doug McDermott scored a career-high 30 points and the Chicago Bulls rallied for a 116-106 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
Guard Derrick Rose scored 26 points and centre Pau Gasol added 18 points and 11 rebounds as Chicago (28-26) snapped a five-game losing streak.
Guard Kyle Lowry had 27 points and eight assists to lead the Raptors. Centre Jonas Valanciunas contributed 25 points and 12 rebounds. Guard DeMar DeRozan added 22 points for Toronto (35-18), which dropped its second straight game.
Chicago posted its eighth consecutive win against Toronto and improved to 3-0 against the Raptors this season.
McDermott, who made 13 of 17 shots from the field, took charge in the fourth quarter. On back-to-back possessions, he drove the baseline for a dunk and buried a 3-pointer from the left corner to increase the Bulls’ lead to 12 points with 8:38 remaining.
Toronto rallied to trim the deficit to 105-103 on a jump shot by forward Patrick Patterson with 3:30 to go. The Bulls responded with a driving layup by Rose and a 3-pointer by McDermott.
Chicago entered the fourth quarter with an 89-81 advantage after outscoring Toronto 37-23 during the third quarter. Rose capped a 16-2 run midway through the third quarter with back-to-back baskets. The Raptors missed all five of their 3-point attempts during the third quarter.
Toronto led 58-52 at halftime after leading by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter. Bulls forward Bobby Portis scored the final four points of the first half to trim the deficit to six.
After Raptors guard Cory Joseph missed a jump shot, Bulls guard E’Twaun Moore grabbed a rebound and heaved a pass to Portis for a breakaway dunk with 0.8 of a second remaining in the first half.
A 21-6 run helped Toronto to gain a 35-24 lead at the end of the first quarter. DeRozan, Lowry and Patterson hit three consecutive 3-pointers to help the Raptors grab the early lead.
© Reuters
