Bulls can't deal with DeRozan double-teams, lose at Toronto
In the three games Zach LaVine hasn't played this season, DeMar DeRozan scored 37, 32 and 33 points.
Toronto must have noticed, because with LaVine taking the night off Sunday, the Raptors sent constant double-teams in DeRozan's direction. The Bulls top scorer finished with a relatively low 20 points and the Bulls faded late in a 113-104 loss.
"I give DeMar a lot of credit, I thought he played a great game," Bulls coach Billy Donovan told reporters after the game. "He was really efficient. I thought that we got the ball out of traps, some of our guys really made some good plays and generated good shots. Then there were times when I thought we didn't do a good enough job making the next play."
This being the first leg of back-to-back games, it's likely LaVine will play in Monday's rematch at the United Center. This was his fourth game missed as the Bulls try to manage his return from knee surgery.
Monday's game will complete a run of four sets of back-to-back games for the Bulls in 18 days. They've played more games than any NBA team to this point, but now will not play on consecutive days until Dec. 20 and 21.
The Bulls (5-6) held a 1-point lead with six minutes left, but went 2-for-9 from the field the rest of the way while Toronto scored its last 10 points on layups or dunks.
DeRozan didn't try to force the issue and shot a low volume, going 7 of 9 from the field with 5 turnovers. As a team, the Bulls finished with 17 turnovers, were outscored 62-38 in the paint and 27-13 in second-chance points.
"He was so unbelievable last year carrying us in so many different ways," Donovan said. "We can't be a team that says, 'OK, DeMar's not getting 35, it's going to be hard for us to win.' I think if we could have taken better care of the ball and given ourselves a few more shots at the basket, it would have been different."
Goran Dragic was booed in Sunday's return to Toronto. He was traded to the Raptors last year in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade, but played in just five games and eventually requested a trade. Dragic provided a nice lift off the bench for the Bulls, hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers for 16 points.
Center Nikola Vucevic had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists; Ayo Dosunmu scored 15 and Patrick Williams had 13.
Alex Caruso had an interesting night with 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Filling the stat sheet is usually Caruso's specialty, but his previous season-high in rebounds plus assists was 9. While the Raptors chased DeRozan all over the court, Caruso often found himself open and went 0-for-6 from long range.
As a team, the Bulls were 13-for-36 from behind the arc.
Fred VanVleet, who missed the previous three games with a back injury, led Toronto with 30 points and 11 assists. The Raptors were without top scorer Pascal Siakam, who will miss a few weeks with a right groin strain.
The Bulls trailed 81-71 with 2:21 left in the third quarter, then went on an 18-2 run. The surge included 3 three-pointers by Dragic, a 3-point play by DeRozan, a go-ahead dunk from Patrick Williams and rare jump shot by rookie Dalen Terry.
The Bulls got off to a fast start, building a 36-23 lead early in the second quarter. The Raptors dominated the next 11 minutes and led 55-49 by halftime.
Andre Drummond (shoulder) and Coby White (quad) remain sidelined with injuries.
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