Bulls rally past Raptors, earn shot at Heat for playoff bid

Zach LaVine scored a game-high 39 factors and DeMar DeRozan added 23 to spice up the visiting Chicago Bulls to a come-from-behind, 109-105 victory in opposition to the Toronto Raptors in an Eastern Conference play-in recreation on Wednesday night time.

Chicago advances to face the Miami Heat on Friday. The winner of the sport, to be performed in Miami, will transfer on to fulfill the Milwaukee Bucks, the East’s prime seed, within the first spherical of the playoffs.

The Bulls overcame a 19-point, third-quarter deficit in opposition to the Raptors. A 29-28 lead early within the second quarter, which lasted all of 19 seconds, was Chicago’s solely benefit till the stretch run.

Patrick Beverley’s trey with 5:07 remaining put the Bulls forward 96-93, a lead they did not relinquish.

Still, it wasn’t simple. A Pascal Siakam dunk with 19.7 seconds left introduced the Raptors inside 105-104. LaVine adopted with a pair of free throws, and Siakam hit 1 of three on the line earlier than Nikola Vucevic hit two free throws for the Bulls with 11.1 seconds left for a 109-105 lead.

Toronto missed its ultimate two makes an attempt from the sphere earlier than LaVine corralled the final rebound.

An 18-for-36 effort from the free-throw line took a toll on Toronto, which shot 43.7 p.c from the ground in comparison with 48.8 p.c for Chicago.

Siakam had 32 factors for the Raptors, who acquired double-doubles from Fred VanVleet (26 factors, 12 rebounds) and Scottie Barnes (19 factors, 10 rebounds).

O.G. Anunoby chipped in 13 factors.

Vucevic posted 14 factors and 13 rebounds for Chicago. Patrick Williams chipped in 10 factors and Coby White had 9 factors and 5 assists.

Toronto took a 58-47 lead into halftime behind a balanced effort that noticed Siakam (20 factors), VanVleet (14) and Barnes (11) every rating in double figures.

VanVleet offered some additional respiratory room for the hosts by drilling a 40-foot, buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

The Raptors took two of three from the Bulls within the common season, with the house staff prevailing every time.

Chicago went 3-0 in opposition to Miami, with every recreation determined by not less than eight factors.

–Field Level Media/Reuters