Bulls fall to Raptors 118-113
Something about playing at full strength just doesn't sit well with the Bulls.
When Carlos Boozer played his first game after recovering from a broken right hand, the Bulls lost by 29 points to Orlando.
Joakim Noah came back Wednesday night after 30 games off with a thumb injury, and the Bulls responded with a miserable defensive performance, losing 118-113 to Toronto at the Air Canada Centre.
The Raptors have some young, athletic players, including ex-Bulls forward James Johnson, but had lost 18 of their previous 20 games.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau called the Bulls' defense a “disaster.”
Toronto shot 58.1 percent from the field and hit 32 of 34 free throws. The Bulls (38-17) rank among the best defensive teams in the NBA and had given up 100 points just five times in the previous 36 games.
“Every aspect of our defense, out the window,” Thibodeau told reporters after the game. “It's disappointing. Going on the road, you can't win like that. We got into an offensive game. We tried to outscore them, and that's a recipe for disaster.”
Noah grabbed 16 rebounds and scored 7 points in 25 minutes during his first game action since Dec. 15 at Toronto.
“It's definitely not the result I wanted, but we've just got to keep fighting,” Noah said. “We've got to come with a better edge.”
Derrick Rose scored 19 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, but without defensive stops, it wasn't enough. The Bulls trailed 107-100 with 2:49 remaining when Rose took it to the hoop and scored 11 straight Bulls points. His free throws tied the game at 111-111 with 1:05 remaining.
On Toronto's next trip, DeMar DeRozan faked Carlos Boozer into the air, drew a foul and hit both free throws. After Rose missed a jumper, the Raptors isolated Amir Johnson in the post against Boozer. Johnson scored easily to put the home team up by 4 with 16.6 seconds left.
The Bulls have a quick turnaround, hosting Miami at the United Center on Thursday.
“We wanted this so we would go into (the Miami game) with a lot of confidence,” Rose said. “Now we've got to go into it very aggressively. We've got to prove the point that we can play defense.”
DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani led Toronto with 24 points each, while Leandro Barbosa added several key baskets down the stretch. Boozer scored 24 points and Luol Deng added 9.
Johnson, sporting a headband and wearing No. 0, started for the Raptors and contributed 9 points and 3 blocks. He was traded to Toronto on Tuesday.
“We've got to play better defense,” Thibodeau said. “We've got to play a lot harder than we did tonight and we've got to attack. You're back on your heels and reacting to them, you're in trouble.
“If someone's beat, you've got to help. We're a help team. We guard with all five. We were a step behind on everything. We lacked discipline, and when you lack discipline it's going to lead to all kind of problems.”