Revenge was sweet for the Chicago Bulls when they defeated the Toronto Raptors at the United Center Saturday night 113-106.
On February 23rd in Toronto, the Raptors came back in the second half and won 118-113. Their celebration was embedded into the brains of Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.
Toronto didn’t go down without a fight, however. Even though five Bulls players were in double figures, the Raps also have five in doubles, including starting guard Jerryd Bayless whose 17 of 26 points came in the 3rd quarter to keep Toronto in the game.
Demar Derozan also chipped in 26 points, while Ed Davis scored 17 and grabbed 11 boards.
Derrick Rose led all scorers with 36 points in 42 minutes and dished out 10 assists. Carlos Boozer seems to be getting back into rhythm; he tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds. Luol Deng scored 17 off a 7-11 shooting.
The Bulls Bench Mob contributed 35 points; Taj Gibson led the squad with 15 points and 9 rebounds and Kyle Korver scored 10 (3-4 FG & 2-3 behind the arc).
Leandro Barbosa was the only bench player to score for the Raptors with 18 points.
The last two games, the Bulls have been outshot, percentage-wise. The Raps shot 50.6% off the floor to the Bulls’ 48.2%.
Although, Chicago managed to make 26-28 free throws. They’re ranked 27th in the league.
The Bulls are now 3 ½ games ahead of the Miami Heat for first place in the Eastern Conference and are one game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the league, with 6 games remaining.
Bulls Extras: Bulls center Joakim Noah missed tonight’s game with a sore ankle and is expected to reenter the lineup Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns…Coach Thibs has now passed Phil Jackson for most wins as a first year coach in Bulls franchise history…The Bulls are now 56-20…
