Zach LaVine scored 16 of his 26 points in the pivotal third quarter and the Chicago Bulls defeated the visiting Toronto Raptors 113-99 Monday night.
Former Raptor DeMar DeRozan also scored 26 points with 11-for-14 shooting from the field for the Bulls, who ended a three-game losing streak.
The Bulls took control of the game with a 30-18 third quarter after trailing by one at halftime.
Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls, who were returning from an unsuccessful three-game road trip. Ayo Dosunmu added 11 points off the bench.
The Bulls won the season series against the Raptors 3-1.
Pascal Siakam scored 22 points for the Raptors, who had a six-game road winning streak end. Fred VanVleet added 19 points and nine assists, Chris Boucher scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds and Khem Birch scored 11 points.
Chicago took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter. Dosunmu made a layup to bump the lead to 18 with 10:24 to play in the fourth quarter. Precious Achiuwa cut the lead to 14 points with 6:52 to play. Javonte Green answered with a layup. Birch’s dunk reduced the margin to 14 again with 5:40 left. The Bulls came back to take a 20-point lead on DeRozan’s 16-footer with 4:00 to play.
Chicago led 30-24 after one quarter.
Siakam scored four straight points to give Toronto a three-point lead with 2:27 remaining in the second quarter. DeRozan’s 12-footer put Chicago back in front by one point with 59.8 seconds left. Birch completed the first-half scoring with a 13-footer and Toronto led 55-54.
Chicago used a 15-0 run — eight by LaVine — to take a 13-point lead with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter. LaVine’s 3-pointer increased the lead to 14 with 1:57 to play in the third. Toronto pulled back to within eight, but LaVine’s 3-pointer gave Chicago an 84-73 after three quarters.
Gary Trent Jr. (toe), Malachi Flynn (hamstring) and OG Anunoby (finger) did not play for Toronto.
–Field Level Media