By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Chicago Bulls surged to its third straight victory in the 2020-2021 NBA Season after a 122-113 triumph over Toronto Raptors on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Zach LaVine finished with 22 points, 13 assists, five rebounds, and three steals, while Nikola Vucevic added 22 markers as the Bulls hiked its record to 22-28.
Lauri Markkanen and Coby White contributed 18 and 15 points, respectively, Daniel Theis had double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds as Thaddeus Young and Patrick Williams had 11 each.
Trailing early in the game, the Bulls leaned on baskets by LaVine and Vucevic to take a 33-27 lead. It grew further in the second period behind Markkanen and White for a 64-51 halftime advantage.
Chicago went on to build its largest lead at 108-86 in the fourth period but Toronto made its last push to come to as close as 108-115 but conversions by LaVine and White sealed the win for the Bulls.
Chris Boucher finished with double-double 38 points and 19 rebounds, while Pascal Siakam and OJ Anunoby added 27 and 13 markers, respectively, for the Raptors (20-32).
Miami Heat (27-25), meanwhile, scored a repeat over defending champion Los Angeles Lakers (32-20) in a rematch of the 2019-2020 NBA Season finalists.
Jimmy Butler led the way with 28 points, Victor Oladipo added 18 markers, while Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo contributed 15 and 13 markers, respectively, for the Heat.
Cleveland Cavaliers (19-32), on the other hand, cruised to a 129-102 victory over Oklahoma City Thunder (20-32). Collin Sexton top-scored with 27 points for Cavaliers.
BOX SCORE:
CHICAGO 122 – LaVine 22, Vucevic 22, Markkanen 18, White 15, Theis 14, Young 11, Williams 11, Satoransky 9, Brown 0.
TORONTO 113 – Boucher 38, Siakam 27, Anunoby 13, Flynn 9, Johnson 7, Watanabe 7, Trent 6, Baynes 6.
Quarterscores: 32-27, 64-51, 97-79, 122-113./ASC, WDJ