Raptors hold on for five-point victory over charging Bulls

Rudi Schuller

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Raptors hold on for five-point victory over charging Bulls image

The Toronto Raptors survived a late charge by the Chicago Bulls to win 119-114 at the Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night.

Led by big performances from Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto held on for the victory after watching a 23-point second-half lead dwindle down to just a three-point margin in the final minute of play.

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The Raptors seemed to be cruising to an easy victory at the half, when the teams went into the break with Toronto up 65-45. The game seemed well in hand even into the fourth quarter when the Raptors extended their lead to 23.

However, Chicago's young team chipped away at the lead and gave Toronto a scare before Raptors coach Dwane Casey went back to his starters. The more experienced Toronto side managed to pull ahead permanently, but not before the Bulls gave them a real run in a game that should have been done and dusted.

JV's big quarter

Valanciunas got off to a quick start, scoring 11 points in the opening quarter to pace the Raptors to a three-point lead after the first 12 minutes.

The big man gave the Bulls all they could handle from the outset, combining well with his teammates to drive to the rim throughout the game.

Valanciunas finished the contest with a double-double, scoring 21 points and hauling in 10 rebounds in 24:02 of game acton.

Balanced attack

The Raptors got double-digit scoring from four players — with C.J. Miles narrowly missing the mark with nine points off the bench — forcing Chicago to focus their defensive efforts all over the court.

Perhaps even more important was the team's efficiency from beyond the arc as Toronto shot 52 percent on 13-25 shooting from three-point range.

Seven Toronto players made at least one three-pointer on Tuesday night.

Rudi Schuller