TORONTO — Chris Bosh had 28 points
and 11 rebounds, and Jose Calderon added 18 points to help the Toronto
Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls 99-89 on Wednesday night.
Andrea Bargnani had 16 points, and
Hedo Turkoglu 11 as Toronto evened its record at 4-4. The Raptors won
for the third time when playing at home against an opponent playing the
second game of a back-to-back.
Joakim Noah fouled out with 12 points
and 11 rebounds, and rookie Taj Gibson scored a career-high 18 points
for Chicago, which had a 6:30 scoreless drought in the fourth quarter
and lost its second straight following a three-game winning streak.
Luol Deng also had 18 points, and Derrick Rose had 14 for the Bulls, who shot a miserable 10 for 40 in the second half.
After piling up 60 points in the
first half, Chicago looked set to eclipse its season high of 93 points.
But after outrebounding Toronto 28-18 and building a 14-0 edge in
second chance points in the first two quarters, the Bulls were
outworked after the break. Toronto finished with a 47-46 edge in
rebounding.
Trailing 88-85 with 6:24 to play,
Toronto surged ahead with an 8-0 run. Bosh made a pair of free throws,
Calderon's driving layup gave the Raptors their first lead of the
second half, Bargnani made two free throws after a clear path foul by
Noah and Calderon capped the run with a jumper, making it 93-88 with
5:04 left.
Chicago didn't score again until Kirk Hinrich hit a free throw with 10 seconds to go.
Down 25-18 late in the first, Hinrich scored five quick points to pull the Bulls to within two, 27-25, after one.
After scoring eight in the first,
Gibson opened the second by tying it with a breakaway dunk off a
Toronto turnover. Deng scored eight in the second, including a jumper
with 23 seconds left, as the Bulls took a 60-53 edge into the break.
Toronto began undoing the rebounding
disadvantage in the third, outrebounding Chicago 15-7. Rookie DeMar
DeRozan had seven for the Raptors, who cut the deficit to 78-77 heading
into the fourth.
Notes
With Aaron Gray (left leg),
Jerome James (right Achilles) and Tyrus Thomas (left arm) all injured,
the Bulls again played with just 10 men. … Chicago next plays
Saturday, when it hosts Philadelphia. After that, the Bulls aren't at
home again until Dec. 2, forced onto the road for six games by a circus
at the United Center.