Alex Caruso drilled a go-ahead baseline 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in overtime and DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 33 points to lift the host Chicago Bulls to a 104-103 win against the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Caruso (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Nikola Vucevic (11 points, 12 rebounds) both notched double-doubles for Chicago, which sent the Raptors to their sixth straight loss at United Center.
Scottie Barnes posted 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and Pascal Siakam scored 18 points to pace the Raptors. Gary Trent Jr. (16 points), O.G. Anunoby (11), Dennis Schroder (10), and Chris Boucher (10) followed in double figures. Schroder added 10 assists.
Chicago trailed by 17 points with 4:58 to go in regulation but used a 22-5 run to force overtime. The Bulls had multiple chances to take the lead in the closing moments but couldn’t convert clutch free throws.
DeRozan scored 18 points in the fourth quarter.
With Toronto up by two near the end of overtime, Caruso’s blocked shot led to his game-winning hoop off an assist from Zach LaVine.
Coby White contributed 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Chicago.
The Raptors shot 47 percent from the field compared to 37.4 percent for Chicago, which trailed by as many as 17 in the game and sputtered through multiple extended offensive droughts.
Toronto scored the first 13 points of the third quarter to take a six-point lead. A trey by Chicago’s Torrey Craig tied the score at 63 with 1:17 left in the quarter, but the Raptors regained control until the late stages.
The Raptors surged ahead 16-4 midway through the first quarter. Chicago then responded in a big way, scoring 20 straight points before Anunoby put home a dunk at the first-quarter buzzer.
A 16-0 run in the second quarter helped the Bulls build a 19-point lead, but the Raptors rebounded in kind. Toronto closed the first half on a 12-0 run as the Bulls took a 42-35 lead into halftime.
Referees whistled the Raptors for five offensive fouls in the first half.
–Field Level Media
