DeRozan Has 26, Bulls Beat Raptors For 4th Straight Win
TORONTO (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points against his former team, Zach LaVine had 22 points and the Chicago Bulls opened a season with four straight wins for the first time since 1996-97, holding off the Toronto Raptors 111-108 on Monday night.
Nikola Vucevic scored 17 points and Lonzo Ball had 15 as the Bulls won their fourth straight meeting with Toronto. Ball shot 5 for 9 from 3-point range.
OG Anunoby scored 22 points and Gary Trent Jr. had 18 as the struggling Raptors lost for the third time in four games.
Toronto's Fred VanVleet scored 15 points and set a career high with 17 assists. Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, and rookie Scottie Barnes scored 13 points.
Chicago opened a 20-point lead less than three minutes into the second half and was up 97-86 with 7:57 left in the fourth, but Anunoby scored the final five points in a 9-0 Toronto run as the Raptors cut it to 97-95 with 4:49 to go.
DeRozan sandwiched jump shots around a pair of free throws from Alex Caruso as the Bulls answered with a 6-0 spurt to take a 103-95 lead with 3:27 to play.
Barnes scored off a Bulls turnover with 15 seconds left, cutting it to 110-108. Vucevic missed the first of two free throws, ending Chicago's streak of 20 consecutive makes, but hit the second to put the Bulls up by three. VanVleet missed a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.
Six different Raptors made a 3-pointer in the second quarter, but Ball made three of his own as Chicago outscored Toronto 37-27 to lead 61-51 at halftime.
LaVine scored 13 points in the third as the Bulls took a 92-80 lead to the final quarter.
TIP-INS
Bulls: Troy Brown Jr. scored 11 points. ... Chicago shot 21 for 22 at the free throw line, led by a 10-for-10 performance from DeRozan. ... Toronto's first-round pick in 2009, DeRozan played nine seasons with the Raptors and remains the team's leader in games (675), minutes (22,986) and points (13,296). He spent the most recent three seasons with San Antonio.
Raptors: Toronto turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, including five from VanVleet, and finished with a season-worst 21 turnovers, leading to 27 points for Chicago.
UP NEXT
Bulls: Host New York on Thursday night.
Raptors: Host Indiana on Wednesday night.
(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
