Bulls vs. Raptors score, takeaways: Zach LaVine leads Chicago to comeback victory in Toronto to extend season

The Bulls will now face the Miami Heat on Friday night for the No. 8 seed

The Chicago Bulls pulled off a 109-105 comeback win on the road to extend their season and send the Toronto Raptors home packing Wednesday night. After falling behind by 19 points, the Bulls stormed back to escape with a win and earn a shot at landing the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

Zach LaVine finished with 39 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the win to lead his team back from a huge deficit. DeMar DeRozan also added on 23 points on 10 of 19 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. For the Raptors, Pascal Siakam finished with 32 points while Fred VanVleet had 26 points in the loss. Siakam missed two crucial free throws down the stretch on a night where Toronto missed 18 free throws as a team, and that ultimately came back to haunt them. 

Now Chicago will face the No. 7-seeded Miami Heat on the road Friday night to battle for a postseason berth. Here are four takeaways from their win over Toronto.

1. A comeback for the ages

At the start of the third quarter, it was looking like the Raptors were going to pull away with the win. They worked up a 19-point lead, Siakam and VanVleet had it cooking and the Bulls looked out of sorts on both ends of the floor. 

But then LaVine happened. 

After putting up just nine points in the first half, LaVine methodically picked apart Toronto's defense to get whatever he wanted. He targeted VanVleet mercilessly, got to the rim, or when he did have a more capable defender on him like Scottie Barnes, he simply pulled up for a mid-range jumper or 3-pointer and kept making shot after shot. He spearheaded Chicago's second-half surge and scored 30 of his 39 points to extend Chicago's season. Not only that, but the Bulls' win is the first time a No. 10 team has won a play-in game, making the victory even more monumental.

But it wasn't just the offense that had the Bulls confounding Toronto. Their defense, which ranks fifth in the league, put immense pressure on the Raptors in the second half. After getting easy looks in the first half, Toronto had to work a lot harder to find even decent looks, especially from 3-point range. Toronto finished the first half shooting 42.1% from 3-point range, and the number plummeted to 25% after halftime. That second half number is far more in line with what the Raptors have done all season long from 3-point land as they rank 28th in the league in 3-point percentage.

Credit Alex Caruso for disrupting several of Toronto's possessions, which resulted in three steals and three blocks for the guard to go along with nine points and two assists. Patrick Beverley also turned up the intensity on defense in the third quarter, being a pest to Siakam and VanVleet, which clearly disrupted Toronto's offensive flow. 

2. Toronto's free throw struggles

This game likely would've looked a lot different had the Raptors converted on a few more of their free throws. It isn't every day that a team goes 18-36 from the charity stripe, but here we are. If the Raptors hadn't blown a 19-point lead this likely wouldn't have been as big of a deal, but not only did they miss them over the course of the game, but Siakam went just 1-of-3 at the line with an opportunity to tie it up. But when you step back and look at Toronto's season as a whole, missing free throws has been a weakness this year. The Raptors shot just 78.4% at the line, which ranks 17th in the league. You're not going to win many games when your free-throw percentage is hovering just around average.

Also, a funny side note if you watched the game, every time the Raptors attempted a free throw a piercing shriek could be heard throughout the arena and on the broadcast. It was soon discovered midway through the game that DeRozan's daughter was the one responsible for all the yelps, and it worked.

After the game when asked about the comical moment, DeRozan said "Somebody missed, I look back, I'm like 'Damn, that's my daughter?'" The Bulls should name her MVP for this win because it certainly had an impact on Toronto's free-throw shooting. They should also ensure that she's going to be at Chicago's game against the Miami Heat on Friday who are the second-best free-throw shooting team in the league.

3. Offseason questions await the Raptors

It was a devastating loss when you consider all the factors: home game, 19-point lead, Caruso in foul trouble. But in the end, Toronto couldn't pull it off. And now they'll face a long offseason filled with several important questions, chief among them: Will Nick Nurse be the head coach next year? There have been some low rumblings that Nurse may decide to step down as head coach, and the Raptors are reportedly "openly evaluating" his fit with the team. If Nurse should leave, former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka has been linked as a possible candidate.

But outside the head coaching decision, there also comes roster moves. Back in February, opposing teams were waiting to pounce on the Raptors if they decided to blow up their roster and make many of their valuable assets available. Instead, Toronto traded for Jakob Poeltl to make a postseason push. Well, that clearly didn't work and now all those trade deadline questions will come creeping up again. If Toronto decides to hit the reset button and build around Scottie Barnes, which was reported ahead of the trade deadline, then several players like OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. could become available on the trade market. Then there's VanVleet, who can opt out of his contract this summer to become an unrestricted free agent, or pick up his $22.8 million player option and wait until the summer of 2024 to enter free agency. Several important questions for Toronto this summer, and how they answer them will dictate the franchise's path forward.

4. Bulls hit the road again to face Miami

The Heat are coming off a disappointing home loss to the Atlanta Hawks in which a win would've secured the No. 7 spot in the East playoffs. So it's safe to say Miami will be playing with some extra motivation after getting outdone on their home floor. Jimmy Butler had an inefficient 21 points, Bam Adebayo struggled mightily and the biggest contribution came from Kyle Lowry with 33 points off the bench. 

While the Heat may be playing with some anger after Tuesday's loss, the Bulls can hang their hat on the fact that they went 3-0 against the Heat this season. While that might not mean much, it'll give the Bulls a game plan they know works against a Miami team that has struggled all season to put points on the board. It might turn out to be a rock fight, as the Bulls rank 24th on offense and the Heat are not far behind at 25th, but both of these squads play top-10 defense so it should be a hard-fought battle. 

[Apr 12, 2023 at 9:49 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Siakam goes 1-3 on free throws, win is within reach for Bulls

The free throw struggle continues for the Raptors and those last two misses just cost the Raptors a win and the season. 

[Apr 12, 2023 at 9:48 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Siakam shooting 3 free throws in controversial call

Alex Caruso fouled Siakam out at the 3-point line, but it didn't appear that he was in the act of shooting when the foul was called. However, the referees concluded that Siakam was shooting so now he'll get 3 foul shots to tie this game up. Wow, unreal call by the officials. 

[Apr 12, 2023 at 9:46 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

LaVine converts on both free throws, Bulls up by 3 points...again

Here we go, Raptors down by 3 points with the ball and 17 seconds left. They went for a quick 2-pointer, which they may do again and foul on the other end. Or perhaps they'll go for the riskier option and see if FVV can sink a 3-pointer if he gets a decent look. Lots riding on this play call, season hanging in the balance.

[Apr 12, 2023 at 9:43 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Siakam with the slam and Raptors down by 1 point

An emphatic slam for Siakam has the Raptors down by 1 point and now Toronto is going to need to get a stop with 19.7 seconds left to get that ball back to try and win this game. Chicago's going to force the Raptors to foul them, and they've been 14 of 18 at the charity stripe, so pretty decent shot at converting on them.

[Apr 12, 2023 at 9:40 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Bulls clinging to 3-point lead

DeRozan goes 1-2 at the FT line and the Bulls have just a 3-point lead with 28 seconds left. the Raptors can either try and tie it up after this timeout, or get a 2-pointer and hope to get a stop with enough time to get the ball back. Toronto hasn't done a great job of defending the Bulls down the stretch of this game, so not sure a defensive stop is a guarantee.

[Apr 12, 2023 at 9:35 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

Raptors free-throw woes coming back to haunt them

Just as I said earlier in the game, Toronto was getting to the charity stripe, but was struggling to convert them at a high rate, and now they find themselves down 104-101 with 1:34 remaining in the game. The Raptors have gone just 16 of 31 or 51.6% from the free-throw line, and that has absolutely hurt them in the second half of this game. Can't expect to win many games when you're leaving that many points out there on the floor.

[Apr 12, 2023 at 9:28 pm ET · Jasmyn Wimbish]

The Bulls have taken control of this game

Chicago is forcing turnovers and scoring at will on the other end. A Patrick Beverley 3-pointer gave the Bulls their first lead of the game since the first quarter after falling behind by 19 points and they now hold a 3-point lead with three minutes to play. LaVine is playing like a man possessed, and if the Raptors can't figure out how to get easy buckets then Chicago may pull off the comeback win.