Boozer Scores 20 And Bulls Beat Raptors 94-92
TORONTO (AP) — Carlos Boozer scored 20 points, D.J. Augustin had 19 against his former team and the Chicago Bulls won their fourth straight game Wednesday night, edging the Toronto Raptors 94-92.
Kirk Hinrich scored 19 points, Jimmy Butler had 16 and Taj Gibson fouled out with 10 as the Bulls won for the fifth time in six games and halted Toronto's winning streak at three. Joakim Noah had eight points and 13 assists for the Bulls.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 32 points but had a couple key misses at the end, while Kyle Lowry fouled out with 16. Lowry, who had seven assists, failed to extend his career-best streak of double doubles to four games.
Augustin, who was waived by Toronto in December before signing with the Bulls as a free agent, hit two 3-pointers early in the third as Chicago took a 76-66 lead at 9:34.
A free throw from DeRozan and a jumper by Terrence Ross brought the Raptors to within 86-82 with 3:23 remaining.
After a Chicago timeout, Augustin hit his third 3 of the fourth quarter and Gibson followed with a jump shot, putting the Bulls up 91-84 at 2:10.
Lowry made a pair of free throws, then hit a 3 at 1:30 as Toronto cut it to 91-89. The 3 was Lowry's 130th of the season, matching a career-high he set with Houston in 2010-11.
Butler missed a jumper for Chicago and Toronto called timeout with 1:03 left. The Raptors gave the ball to DeRozan, but his jump shot from the elbow missed the rim. Hinrich hit a jumper at the other end, putting the Bulls up 93-89 with 41 seconds left.
Gibson fouled out as Amir Johnson hit a layup and converted his free throw, making it 93-93 with 34 seconds left. Chicago called timeout with 1 second left on the shot clock, then couldn't get a shot off, giving the Raptors the ball with 10 seconds remaining. Toronto gave the ball to DeRozan again, but Butler blocked his shot and grabbed the loose ball before being fouled by Lowry, his sixth. Butler made one of two with 2 seconds left, and DeRozan's half-court heave bounced off the glass as the final buzzer sounded.
Toronto's Tyler Hansbrough and Chicago's Nazr Mohammed had to be separated after Mohammed pushed Hansbrough down as the two battled for a rebound early in the second quarter. Mohammed was called for a personal foul on the play and both players were given technical fouls.
Hansbrough was involved in a minor skirmish with Mike Dunleavy in the final minute of the third, resulting in a double foul.
DeRozan scored 12 points in the opening quarter, but no other Raptor had more than four. Boozer had nine points and six rebounds in the first as Chicago used six offensive rebounds to take a 31-21 lead after one.
Toronto called timeout at 6:46 of the second after a 3-pointer by Augustin gave the Bulls a 40-25 lead. Ross scored five points as the Raptors responded with a 14-2 run, cutting the deficit to 42-39 on a 3 by Patrick Patterson at 3:12. Jimmy Butler stopped the run with a free throw and Hinrich added a 3-pointer and a layup as the Bulls took a 48-41 lead at halftime.
DeRozan scored nine in the third, but Boozer also had nine and Chicago led 70-62 heading to the fourth.
NOTES: Augustin scored 13 points in the final quarter. ... Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau and Lowry were both called for technical fouls in the first quarter, while Boozer and DeRozan both picked up technicals in the third. Augustin got a technical for arguing in the fourth. ... Dunleavy led Chicago with 11 rebounds. ... Actors Kristian Nairn and Isaac Hempstead-Wright from the show "Game of Thrones" attended the game.
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