NBA Game Summary - Chicago at Toronto
Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Pau Gasol kept the Bulls in striking distance early and a lopsided third quarter helped give Chicago a hard-earned 100-93 road victory over the Toronto Raptors.
The Bulls were cruising after outscoring the Raptors, 35-14, in the third and were ahead by 18 points with under five minutes left in regulation.
A 14-1 Raptors run and another Derrick Rose injury scare provided some late drama, but Chicago held on and improved to 5-0 on the road for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
Rose, who was playing consecutive games for just the second time this season, netted 20 points but sat the final two minutes after appearing to roll his already injured left ankle. The Bulls initially called it a hamstring injury.
Gasol scored 19 of his 27 points in the first half and added 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who received 21 points from Jimmy Butler and 14 from Mike Dunleavy.
The Raptors were the only one-loss team in the Eastern Conference coming in and were unbeaten in five games at Air Canada Centre.
Kyle Lowry led them with 20 points, while All-Star DeMar DeRozan never got going, hitting just 3-of-17 from the floor for 10 points.
"We missed some shots. We just didn't play our game," said Lowry. "We didn't play up to it physically and defensively. We have to do that for a full 48 minutes."
Toronto shot just 28.6 percent (6-of-21) in the third and went the last three minutes without scoring.
A Joakim Noah hook shot capped a 12-0 run that stretched into the fourth and extended the Bulls' lead to 82-66.
"We had a great third quarter," said Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau. "In the fourth, we did a lot to hang on. We still have a lot of work to do. Lot of things still to clean up."
Rose went down on a drive to the basket during Toronto's late push and turned the ball over, and Terrence Ross' 3-pointer followed by an Amir Johnson slam had the deficit down to 93-88.
Butler silenced the crowd with a 20-foot jumper, and Dunleavy added two clinching free throws the next time down after getting fouled shooting from outside the arc.
A tight first quarter ended with the Raptors trailing, 25-24, before their bench, namely James Johnson, provided a spark.
The reserve forward scored 12 points in the second -- all at the rim -- and ignited a 9-0 run to open the quarter.
Toronto took a 52-45 lead into halftime, though the margin could have been more had it not been for Gasol scoring 13 points over the final 4 1/2 minutes.
Gasol stayed hot coming out of the break, hitting a jumper and two hook shots during a quarter-opening 13-4 spurt that gave the Bulls the lead.