(Toronto) Zach LaVine took charge in the second half and the Chicago Bulls came from behind to defeat the Toronto Raptors 109-105 on Wednesday night to knock the Toronto squad out of the postseason tournament of the NBA.
LaVine scored 30 of his 39 points in the second half for the Bulls, who at one point in the game were down 18 points. DeMar DeRozan, a former Raptors, added 23 points and collected seven rebounds.
The Bulls will face the Miami Heat on Friday in the second round of the playoff qualifying tournament.
The winner of this game will become the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and will face the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
The Atlanta Hawks had already become the seventh seed after beating the Miami Heat 116-105 on Tuesday in their first-round game.
Fred VanVleet had 26 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Raptors, including seven three-pointers.
All-star Pascal Siakam scored 32 points with nine rebounds for the Raptors, and Scottie Barnes added 19.
Siakam pointed to the fact that the Bulls took advantage of their opportunities and the Raptors failed to maintain the same pace from the first to the second half.
“They made the important shots for them, at important times, and we couldn’t seem to be able to keep playing like we played in the first half,” noted Siakam, who lamented the potential points that the Raptors did not materialize.
“It’s not fair (the free throws). That’s part of it. There are also reversals. We couldn’t have this consistency in the first half and in games like that, it’s not easy. »
The Raptors were the hosts of this matchup at Scotiabank Arena after finishing the regular season ahead of the Bulls.