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 The Bulls overwhelmed the Toronto Raptors with a 35-14 third
quarter but then held on in the fourth quarter for the 100-93
victory on Thursday night.
"The third quarter was great," Thibodeau said. "And then we hung on
in the fourth, but we did a lot of good things to build that lead.
We're still striving to be a 48-minute team."
Forward Pau Gasol had 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bulls,
who are 5-0 on the road and 7-2 overall.
The Raptors (7-2) saw their home mark fall to 5-1 and their
five-game win streak snapped.
"You can't say enough about him," Thibodeau said of Gasol. "He sets
the tone for the team, plays both sides of the ball and plays
unselfishly. He's great in every aspect of the game."
Guard Jimmy Butler had 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists for
the Bulls. Guard Derrick Rose added 20 points before tweaking his
hamstring late in the game. He said it was not serious, but he will
be evaluated on Friday.
 "I guess it was cramps in my hamstrings," Rose said. "I think it is
minor and they decided to pull me out. We have a good team, we had
the game up by 10 then so why force it. I shot terrible tonight."
Forward Mike Dunleavy contributed 14 for the Bulls and forward Taj
Gibson had 10.
"The third quarter did us in," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We
withstood their punches in the first half, but in the third quarter
they got us on our heels and we stayed on our heels.
"You know that is the kind of game you're going to have against them
and it's a hard game to play. You have to muscle and fight through
the physicality, the bumps and the grinds. You know that's the way
you're going to have to play against them."
Guard Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 20 points and eight assists, and
he tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. Forward James Johnson
added 16 points, forward Amir Johnson 14, forward Terrence Ross had
12 and guard DeMar DeRozan 10.
The Raptors took a seven-point lead into the second half, but by the
end of the third quarter they trailed by 14.
"They came out very aggressive to start the second half and we
missed shots that we can make," Lowry said. "That was pretty much
the tone of the game. We fought back to take a little bit from them,
but in the end that third quarter lost the game for us. ... I think
we just didn't play our game from start to finish. We played our
game in spurts today."
Chicago whittled the lead to one when Gasol and Rose each scored
four points in the first three minutes of the second half. Dunleavy
put the Bulls ahead 58-56 with a 3-pointer with 7:19 to play in the
third quarter, taking advantage of a turnover by Raptors center
Jonas Valanciunas.
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The Bulls finished the third quarter by reeling off 10 straight
points, completed with Butler's two free throws, to take an 80-66
lead.
The Bulls increased the margin to 16 points with 6:33 to play on a
reverse layup by center Joakim Noah. Rose's layup with five minutes
left bumped the lead to 18 points.
Lowry responded with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 15 points. Amir
Johnson made two free throws to cut the lead to 12 with 3:38 to
play. Lowry got the lead down to 10 after Chicago turned the ball
over on a 24-second violation.
Ross hit a 3-pointer with 1:53 left to bring the Raptors within
seven points. Johnson's dunk off a Bulls turnover cut the lead to
five with 1:44 left. Dunleavy was fouled Ross while attempting a
3-pointer with 58.9 seconds left and made two of three, and the lead
was 97-90.
DeRozan made two free throws to again cut the lead to five with 30
seconds left. Butler then made two free throws and Lowry sank one of
two foul shots. Noah missed both his with 20 seconds left, but
Butler made one of his two foul shots with 10 seconds left and
Chicago led by seven.
DeRozan passed forward Andrea Bargnani to move into third place on
the Raptors' career scoring list with 6,567 points.
NOTES: Bulls G Derrick Rose stood by comments he made Tuesday that
he must miss some games for his future health, beyond this season.
Asked Thursday morning if he could understand people questioning his
commitment to the team, Rose said, "No, but I could (not) care less.
...Really, I was just being myself. As long as I'm being myself,
that's the only person I can be." He was sidelined most of the past
two seasons with injuries and has missed four games this season with
ankle sprains. ... Raptors F Landry Fields (flu symptoms) was not
available for the second game in a row. C Lucas Nogueira took his
place. ... The Raptors next play Saturday at home against the Utah
Jazz. ... The Bulls' next game is Saturday at home against the
Indiana Pacers.
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