Lucas spurs rally as Bulls beat Raptors 94-82

[March 22, 2012]  TORONTO (AP) -- John Lucas scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter, Luol Deng had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls rallied to beat the Toronto Raptors 94-82 on Wednesday night.

Kyle Korver also came up big in the final quarter, scoring all 10 of his points in the fourth as the Bulls came back after trailing by 12 early in the second half.

C.J. Watson scored 15 points and Ronnie Brewer had 12 for the Bulls, who won their third straight. League-leading Chicago (39-10) has won six of eight since an eight-game winning streak from Feb. 20 to March. 7.

The Bulls outscored the Raptors 32-13 in the fourth to win their sixth straight road game, improving to an NBA-best 20-6 away from home. Chicago's last road loss was Feb. 12 at Boston.

The Bulls also won for the fourth time in five games without leading scorer Derrick Rose, who is still sidelined with a sore right groin. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose has not yet resumed running.

"He's doing more and more," Thibodeau said. "He's doing some shooting. He's moving right along."

DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and James Johnson had 16 for the Raptors, who lost their third straight and have dropped seven of 10 overall.

Andrea Bargnani made two of his 10 field goal attempts and finished with eight points. Jose Calderon also struggled with his shooting, going 3 of 10. He had nine points and eight assists.

Toronto made just four of 18 shots in the fourth.

Lucas scored Chicago's first seven points of the final quarter, including a 3-pointer with 8:10 left, cutting Toronto's lead to 72-69 and forcing the Raptors to call timeout.

After Gary Forbes missed a shot, Lucas fed Korver for a game-tying 3. At the other end, Omer Asik blocked Linas Kleiza's driving jumper, setting up Taj Gibson for a go-ahead dunk. Lucas and Korver each hit jumpers on the next two possessions and Chicago didn't trail again.

Toronto's only basket in the first 8 minutes of the fourth was a hook shot by Ed Davis, who converted the three-point play at 10:28. The Raptors, who missed 10 of their first 11 shots in the quarter, didn't score again until a pair of free throws by Bargnani with 3:28 to play, by which time their 72-64 lead had become an 84-74 deficit.

Raptors guard Jerryd Bayless, who was knocked out of Tuesday's loss at New York after injuring his left hip in a collision with Carmelo Anthony, had to leave this one after playing just 1:29 in the opening quarter.

Deng scored Chicago's first seven points of the game and had 10 in the first as the Bulls led 27-23 after one.

Former Bulls center Aaron Gray had five rebounds and six points in the second as Toronto outscored Chicago 28-16 to lead 51-43 at the half.

DeRozan and Brewer each scored six points in the third as the Raptors took a 69-62 lead into the final quarter.

NOTES: The Raptors honored the Canadian Forces by becoming the first NBA team to wear camouflage jerseys, the first of four occasions they'll wear them. More than 300 members of Canada's military attended the game. ... The Raptors are home against New York on Friday night while Chicago is off until Saturday, when the Bulls host Toronto for the third and final meeting of the season.

[Associated Press]

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