Raptors show fight in huge comeback
Powered by DeRozan’s 42 points, Toronto overcomes 16-point deficit over nemesis Chicago
TORONTO — A streak that long could only be broken by something as unpredictable as what transpired Tuesday night at the Air Canada Centre.
Down by 16 when Serge Ibaka and Robin Lopez did their Mike Tyson impressions and got tossed from the game, the Raptors looked dead and buried and on their way to a 12th consecutive loss to a Chicago Bulls team that time and again has found a way to be Toronto’s nemesis.
It took a near career high 42 points from DeMar DeRozan to pull this one out, which the Raptors did by the slimmest of margins, finally ending the Bulls’ dominance with a 122120 overtime win.
DeRozan gave the Raptors their first lead of the night with 1:30 to go in OT as he knocked down an 18-footer over Rajon Rondo.
But it would take a Patrick Patterson put back off a DeRozan miss, then a clutch 20-footer from Cory Joseph to finish it off.
For a game that began with such putrid defence on Toronto’s part, it has to be noted that without the stops engineered by a grouping that included DeRozan, Cory Joseph, Fred VanVleet, Patterson and especially P.J. Tucker, this win doesn’t happen.
That they came into the game having lost to this Bulls team 11 times in a row, not having tasted victory since New Year’s Eve 2013, just made the comeback that followed that much more unbelievable.
But come back the Raptors did, getting back on even terms with 1:50 to go in regulation on a Joseph drive.
Jimmy Butler, the one constant in all 11 Toronto losses to Chicago, looked like he just might sink the Raptors again, scoring on back to back possessions after the Raptors pulled even to stretch Chicago’s lead back to four points.
But DeRozan, another constant in all 11 of those losses, had a little something left even after doing the majority of the offensive work to get Toronto back in this one.
DeRozan scored 22 in the second half, every bucket he produced needed as the two teams failed to settle this one in regulation.
DeRozan had a chance to give the Raptors a lead with 37 seconds left, but missed the ensuing free throw.
The Bulls came down the floor and came up empty, too, when P.J. Tucker — who was all over this game from a defensive standpoint — forced Butler into a shot he couldn’t make.
DeRozan had one more shot at avoiding the extra period, but his three-ball attempt came up short.
The Raptors defence, which had been solid since the all-star break and even better than that in the past two wins, went AWOL against what has been an anemic Bulls offence.
The talk after this one will be the third quarter fight between Lopez and Ibaka, an exchange that began when Lopez objected to an Ibaka shove as he tried to gain position for a potential rebound. Lopez turned and slapped the ball out of the hands of Ibaka, who then pushed back at Lopez. Lopez threw a right that missed wildly, while Ibaka’s return right just caught the side of Lopez’ head.
There was lots of pushing and shoving after that and an exchange between Raps assistant Jamaal Magloire and Nikola Mirotic that earned double technicals.
The lasting effect, though, will come today when the Raptors learn how long they will be without Ibaka, a guy who has become extremely important in everything the Raptors do at both ends of the floor in the very short time he has been a member or the Raptors.
Punches, actual closed-fist punches, don’t get thrown around in today’s NBA, so even with minimal contact there is going to be some form of suspension.
The fighting fouls that both players received come with a fine not exceeding $50,000 and/or suspension, depending on how serious the league views the dust-up.
And like it or not, any suspensions is going to hurt the Raptors a heck of a lot more than it does the Bulls primarily because Ibaka is so key to so much the Raptors do. There’s also the matter of Toronto trying to get back into the top three in the conference and hopefully, avoiding a second-round matchup with Cleveland, assuming the Cavaliers hang on to the No. 1 seed.
Either way, a team already hamstrung without Lowry could be looking at losing the guy who has stepped into that secondary offensive role behind DeRozan for at least a few games.
The Bulls were locked in through the first half led by Rondo, who was 7-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc.