Coby White had 25 points and six assists and the visiting Chicago Bulls ended the Toronto Raptors’ five-game winning streak by romping to a 122-106 win on Friday.
The Bulls, who won for just the second time in five games overall, also prevailed 122-121 in Toronto on Dec. 16.
Bulls center Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and seven rebounds in the first quarter and finished with 21 and 12, respectively. Josh Giddey added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Chicago got good production from the bench with Jalen Smith contributing 17 points, Matas Buzelis scoring 12, Patrick Williams chipping in with 11 points and nine rebounds and Dalen Terry putting up 10 points.
Scottie Barnes had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, and RJ Barrett added 19 points and nine boards. Immanuel Quickley returned from injury to score 13 of his 14 points in the first half. Jacob Poeltl had eight points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Reserve Ja’Kobe Walter scored 14 points, and Gradey Dick logged 13.
The Bulls used the pick-and-roll effectively to take a 30-27 lead after one quarter. Toronto had four blocked shots in the quarter, three by Poeltl.
Chicago had its seven-point lead reduced to one with 6:16 to play in the second quarter on consecutive 3-pointers by Walter and Davion Mitchell. The Bulls recovered to lead by seven again before taking a 55-50 edge into halftime.
Toronto moved within one point with 7:37 left in the third quarter when Dick was set up for a cutting dunk by a nifty pass from Barnes, and the hosts took the lead on a layup by Barrett. White answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, starting an 18-4 run that helped the Bulls take an 88-74 lead into the fourth quarter.
Some of the early-game energy had left the Raptors when Williams made an empathic dunk against Poeltl with 8:01 left in the fourth. Ayo Dosunmu followed with a 3-pointer, White made a layup, and Chicago led by 19.
Jamal Shead (illness) did not play for Toronto.
Zach LaVine (personal) was out for Chicago.
The Raptors last produced a winning streak of longer than five games when they won eight in a row Jan. 29-Feb. 10, 2022.
–Field Level Media
