Unconsciously, the Chicago Bulls, which can still play the dark horse of the East before the All-Star game this season, have faded their original color as the journey of the regular season continues to deepen. Yes, in recent years, the Bulls have fallen to the fifth position in the East, and there is no longer the arrogance of the past. Not only that, but they have also suffered three consecutive defeats so far, and the morale of the team has been weakened. There is no doubt that they need to win the game in order to get out of the haze of losing streak and get back on the right track.
This game, back at home, the Bulls, accepted the challenge of the Toronto Raptors. Although it is a championship team that has been in the past, the Raptors have never chosen to compromise and are still struggling for the playoffs. And, in the previous game, they had also left the Philadelphia 76ers, who are second in the East, behind. Therefore, in the face of the Toronto Raptors who have just achieved an upset counterattack, the Bulls still have to play the spirit of twelve points to secure the victory. So, what kind of sparks will burst out from the two sides in this competition?
At the beginning of the game, Siakam and Van Jordan quickly got into shape, sending back 8 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, as well as 8 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists. However, the successive efforts of the two of them did not help the Raptors to get the lead in the score smoothly, but were beaten out of the bulls with all the troops, with a 30-24 score, to get a 6-point lead. And entering the second quarter of the showdown, the Raptors, who are in a state of backwardness, can also make a strong counterattack. Siakam sent out a crucial 8-pointer on 4-of-5 shooting in the quarter, and Van Jordan also had 2 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
In the situation of the team's starting core successively, the Raptors also handed over a 31-24 score, not only recovering the 6 points behind in the first quarter, but also scoring 1 point at halftime 55-54. Yi Bian fought again, and no one would have thought that the Raptors who entered the third quarter would fall into a scoring drought. At the same time, the Bulls, who seized the opportunity, not only achieved points chasing, but also established a double-digit lead. LaVine played 12 minutes of the third quarter, delivering 16 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist to lead the team to a 30-18 score.
By the time it got to the crucial final showdown, the point difference between the two sides had widened to 11 points. Maintaining the initiative to take the lead, the Bulls did not give the Raptors a chance to continue to fight back, but instead played a 29-26 score in the fourth quarter and won the game with a score of 113-99. Looking back at the game, the overall performance of the players on both sides was not very good, and the cumulative scores of 8 players in the whole game reached double digits, and the two teams had 4 players each.
DeRozan and Ravin scored 26 points in succession, Vucevic had a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Dosem, who delivered 11 points and six assists. It is worth affirming that the Bulls finally came out of the haze of losing streaks and won a rare victory. And the player who should be praised the most may have to be DeRozan as a beautiful boy in the middle. He played 35 minutes in a single game, shooting 10 of 10 from the field, shooting 100% from the field, and if it were not for the poor three-point performance of 1 of 4 on the outside, his single-game shooting rate would have reached 100%.