Your Chicago Bulls dropped the first game of a home-and-home back-to-back with the team that drafted DeMar DeRozan in 2009, the Toronto Raptors. Sloppy ball-handling from Chicago, combined with Toronto’s length and agility (plus a too-late timeout call from Billy Donovan), doomed the Bulls down the stretch. The final tally: 113-104. With the loss, the Bulls fall below .500, 5-6, on the season. The Raptors now sports a 6-5 record.
Both teams were missing an All-Star. The Bulls sat Zach LaVine to rest that balky knee, while All-NBA Raptors power forward/center Pascal Siakam is set to miss at least the next two weeks’ worth of games with an adductor strain.