Maybe there was no chance of the Chicago Bulls blowing a 23-point lead and losing Tuesday night’s game to Toronto, simply because they’ve owned the Raptors for more than three seasons.
But the fourth quarter of this one became an interesting test of the Bulls’ versatility.
Jimmy Butler, who missed four of the previous five games with a bruised right heel, was either rusty or not 100 percent. He couldn’t hit an outside shot all night (2-for-10 from the field). Dwyane Wade was sidelined with a sore right wrist, so the Bulls needed to go off script to hold off a late Raptors’ run.
They found the answer with some timely baskets off the bench, which is rare for them, and by settling in at one of their favorite places this season: the foul line.
Doug McDermott led the way with 20 points and Butler made 15 of 19 free throws to push the Bulls past Toronto 105-94 at the United Center. This was the Bulls’ 11th straight victory over the Raptors. The teams meet once more this season, on March 21 at the Air Canada Centre.
“When you’re shooting 2-for-10 from the field, I think you better find a way to get to the free-throw line,” Butler said. “You know, other than that, everybody has a different way of changing the game, whether you’re guarding, rebounding, passing, getting loose balls, taking charges. Getting to the free-throw line was the only way to win.”
Midway through the fourth, the Bulls got a nice push when rookie Denzel Valentine hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter and McDermott followed with an aggressive drive, and the Bulls led 93-81 with 4:51 left.
“We had to have it and I was proud of Denzel stepping up and not being afraid of the big moment,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Toronto closed within 5 points a couple of times, and the Bulls utilized the foul line to their advantage. Between McDermott’s lay-in with 4:51 left and a bank shot at the 28-second mark, the Bulls shot 12 free throws, 10 by Butler.
This wasn’t unusual. When the Bulls beat the Raptors on Jan. 7 in overtime, Butler attempted 20 free throws.
Butler said his heel wasn’t an issue. The poor shooting was more about rust.
“The heel’s good. There wasn’t that much pain at all,” he said. “Now it’s about getting a rhythm, getting back in shape. Hopefully we get to go up and down a little bit tomorrow (in practice).”
In the first half, it seemed like the Raptors (32-24) wanted to make new addition Serge Ibaka feel welcome. Toronto looked like a team in need of another big man. They traded Terrence Ross to Orlando for Ibaka on Tuesday, but it’s not clear when he will join the team.
Besides winning points in the paint 30-18, the Bulls had seven dunks in the first half — four by Gibson and three from Cristiano Felicio.
Wade (wrist), Nikola Mirotic (back) and Paul Zipser (ankle) all sat out. Hoiberg said there’s a chance Wade could play Thursday against Boston, but the other two guys will be out until after the all-star break.
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan hit just 5 of 19 shots from the field and was ejected in the final minute for getting 2 technicals.
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