TORONTO – DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points to lead his Chicago Bulls to beat the Toronto Raptors 111-108 on Monday in a return to Scotiabank Arena against his former team.
DeRozan scored three late field goals to help Chicago (4-0) remain undefeated. Bulls guard Zach LaVine added 22 points.
DeRozan played the first nine seasons of his NBA career in Toronto before being traded to the San Antonio Spurs in 2018. He was traded to Chicago last offseason.
OG Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. led the Raptors (1-3) offensively with 22 and 18 points, respectively.
Toronto hasn’t won in three home starts this season.
After DeRozan pushed the Bulls to a 108-102 lead with just over a minute to play, Raptors guard Fred VanVleet hit an inside shot to bring Toronto to four.
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The Raptors recovered the ball with 40 seconds to go, but VanVleet’s pass was intercepted by Chicago guard Alex Caruso.
An error by the Bulls on an infield pass led to an easy layup for Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes and a two-point deficit with 14 seconds left. But Chicago held on with a late free kick by Nikola Vucevic and a game-ending three-point failure by VanVleet.
The Bulls led by 10 at the half and quickly expanded that margin to 20 points at 73-53 before the third quarter turned three minutes. Chicago enjoyed a 92-80 lead late in the three quarters.
The Raptors came within two points when Anunoby hit a 3 with 5:09 left and then hit a layup for a 97-95 deficit.
DeRozan then got to work, hitting a couple of crucial mid-range jumpers.
It was DeRozan’s seventh game against the Raptors since he was traded to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green on July 18, 2018.
DeRozan split the previous six games with three wins and three losses.
He enjoyed a solid start with 11 points in the first quarter that ended 24-24.
After exchanging field goals early in the second quarter, Lonzo Ball and Caruso drained consecutive triples to give Chicago a six-point lead.
That lead increased to 61-51 at halftime. Ball led the way for Chicago with four jump shots for 12 points.
Trent scored a dozen for Toronto, including a pair of 3s, in the first two quarters.
The Raptors were offensively sloppy with 10 turnovers to Chicago’s three in the first half. Anunoby was also beset by early foul problems for the second straight game, picking up his third midway through the second quarter.
VanVleet registered 15 points, but dished out 17 assists.
This Canadian Press report was first published on October 25, 2021.
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca