Bulls fall short in close game
February 14, 2007
CHICAGO – Chris Bosh sank two free throws with 2.1 seconds left and the Toronto Raptors blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead before recovering to beat the Chicago Bulls 112-111 Tuesday night.
The victory was the 28th for Toronto, giving the Raptors one more win than all of last season.
Bosh finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who ended a 15-game losing streak against the Bulls stretching back to Dec. 6, 2002.
Andrea Bargnani added 22 points for Toronto.
In the closing seconds, Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas blocked a layup attempt by T.J. Ford but Bosh rebounded and was fouled by Thomas before hitting both free throws.
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Ben Gordon, whose three-point play with 12.8 seconds left had given the Bulls a 111-110 lead and capped a 13-0 run, put up a jumper that was short at the buzzer.
The Raptors, winners of nine of their last 11, went ahead by eight points early in the fourth quarter when Jose Calderon converted a three-point play and moments later fed Bosh for a basket that made it 94-86.
Finding holes in the Chicago defense, Calderon made three straight Toronto baskets to increase the margin to 12 with about 6 minutes remaining.
Coming off a seven-game road trip, the Bulls got 30 points from Luol Deng and 26 from Gordon.
Chris Duhon’s 3-pointer with 1:27 to go closed the deficit to five and after two Toronto misses, Duhon connected again from the corner, another 3-pointer that made it 110-108 with 35 seconds remaining.
Bosh’s pass went off Anthony Parker’s hands and out of bounds with 21.1 seconds to go and the Bulls had a final chance.
Gordon drove the lane and hit a bank shot as he was fouled, tying the game with 12.8 seconds left. His free throw gave the Bulls a short-lived lead.
Trailing by five at the half, the Bulls caught up as Deng scored 12 points in the third with his jumper putting the Bulls up 73-70.
But Jorge Garbajosa’s third 3-pointer of the period and layup and then 3-pointer from Parker restored the Raptors’ lead to five and they held on for an 87-82 advantage headed into the fourth.
Bargnani was 6-for-7, including three 3-pointers, and scored 17 first-half points as Toronto took a 56-51 lead. The Raptors shot 60 percent in the first two quarters.