Bulls Beat Raptors 100-93, Despite Latest Rose Injury
TORONTO (AP) -- Pau Gasol had a season-high 27 points and 11 rebounds, Derrick Rose scored 20 points before leaving with a sore left hamstring, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Toronto Raptors 100-93 on Thursday night.
Jimmy Butler scored 21 and Mike Dunleavy had 14 as the Bulls won for the sixth time in seven games and snapped Toronto's five-game winning streak in the matchup of teams with the best records in the Eastern Conference. Both teams are 7-2.
Starting his second straight game after missing four of the previous five with a pair of sprained ankles, Rose stumbled on a drive to the basket late in the fourth and was replaced by Dunleavy with 1:53 left, taking a seat at the end of the bench.
Kyle Lowry scored 20 and James Johnson had 16 against his former team, but the Raptors lost for the first time in six home games this season.
Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan struggled with his shooting for the second straight game. DeRozan, who shot 4 for 15 in Tuesday's win over Orlando, went 3 for 17 against Chicago.
Toronto trailed by as many as 18 before Lowry scored seven points in a 12-1 run that cut the deficit to 93-86 with 2 minutes left.
The Bulls used a pair of timeouts before James Johnson blocked Gasol, allowing Amir Johnson to score a fast-break dunk that cut the gap to 93-88 with 1:44 to go.
Butler stopped the run with a jumper, James Johnson answered with a reverse layup, but Terrence Ross fouled Dunleavy on a 3-pointer with less than a minute left. Dunleavy made two of three to give Chicago a 97-90 lead.
Chicago led 25-24 after one, but Toronto's reserves started the second quarter with an 11-2 run, spurred by eight points from James Johnson, to lead 35-27. Johnson scored 12 points in the second but Gasol had 13 for the Bulls. The Raptors led 52-45 at halftime.
The Bulls opened the third with a 13-4 run, and a 3 by Dunleavy with 7:29 remaining gave Chicago a 58-56 lead. The Bulls made 12 of 18 field goal attempts in the third, outscoring the Raptors 35-14, to take an 80-66 lead into the fourth.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.