Bulls just not straight shooters against Raptors, fall to 2-10
TORONTO -- The Bulls were smoking hot at the start of Sunday's game in Toronto, then spectacularly bad for the final three quarters.
The full result was a mind-numbing 93-78 loss to the Raptors that defied logic and sent the Bulls' record plummeting to 2-10.
With forward Luol Deng back in the lineup, the Bulls opened the game by producing their highest-scoring quarter of the season with 33 points.
During the rest of the game, though, the Bulls scored just 45 points, an average of 15 per quarter, and finished with another putrid field-goal percentage of .380.
The Bulls have somehow managed to shoot below 40 percent in eight of their 12 games and have scored fewer than 80 points three times in the last four contests.
"Without question, we are in a rut which we've got to get through," coach Scott Skiles said. "Somebody or some people have to step up and pick us up."
There was a slight reversal in style Sunday. Typically, Andres Nocioni has been the only Bulls player who consistently shoots well.
This time, Nocioni hit 4 of 15 shots, while the usual leading scorers were a little better. Deng finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds after missing three games with a sore back. Ben Gordon added 17 points and Kirk Hinrich had 15.
"There's no fun in moral victories," Hinrich said. "I feel like we played better, but we lost the game and we struggled down the stretch again."
The Bulls headed into the fourth quarter trailing 70-64. A pair of baskets by Joe Smith closed the margin to 2 points, but then the visitors failed to score for the next 5:40. They missed 6 shots, 2 free throws and turned it over three times.
Even though the Raptors (7-7) missed 10 of their first 11 shots in the quarter, they led 77-68 with 4:40 left after Jamario Moon scored a pair of baskets.
"In critical moments, we're a little flat-footed out there," Skiles said. "Right now, at least, we don't have the thrust of energy that we need at that moment."
Prior to Sunday, the Bulls had eclipsed 30 points in a quarter just once this season, and that came on opening night at New Jersey when they scored 32 in the third.
Kirk Hinrich was 5-for-5 from the field in the first quarter with three 3-pointers. The Bulls led 35-26 after Thabo Sefolosha opened the second quarter with a driving lay-in. But during the remainder of the first half, the visitors hit just 2 of 17 shots. The 11-point second quarter at Toronto was a season low.
The Bulls return home for three straight games, beginning with Atlanta on Tuesday.
"I should be able to go," Deng said. "I am sore right now and it's probably going to be sore tomorrow, but it should be fine."
Toronto point guard T.J. Ford missed his third straight game with an arm stinger, while center Rasho Nesterovic skipped his fifth game with a sprained right ankle.