{allcanada} Raps shoot lights out

 

TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani scored 24 points each as the Toronto Raptors shot 58 per cent from to field to defeat the Chicago Bulls 118-113 on Wednesday night.

Amir Johnson added 17 points and Leandro Barbosa chipped in with 13 off the bench for Toronto (16-42). Jose Calderon added 17 assists to go with six points. DeRozan scored eight of his points in the fourth quarter.

Derrick Rose led Chicago (38-17) with 32 points, 19 coming in the fourth. Carlos Boozer added 24 points and Luol Deng had 19.

Forward James Johnson, acquired from Chicago on Tuesday, started against his former team in his first game for the Raptors, finishing with nine points and five rebounds in 27 minutes.

His first points as a Raptor came on a dunk with 4:27 to play in the first half to tie the game 43-43. Johnson said he wore No. 0 because he feels he is starting over after not playing much with Chicago.

Johnson scored next with 5:57 to play in the third to give Toronto a 71-68 lead.

DeRozan hit two free throws with 49.3 seconds to play as Toronto took a 113-111 lead. After a rare Rose miss on a 20-foot jumper, Johnson's layup put Toronto ahead by four points with 16.6 seconds left.

DeRozan's running layup put Toronto ahead 109-107 but Rose tied it at 1:32 to play on a driving layup.

DeRozan hit two free throws to restore Toronto's lead but Rose made two free throws to tie the game again with 1:05 to play.

Barbosa gave Toronto a seven-point lead with 2:49 to play when he scored on a layup and made the free throw. Rose hit two free throws twice to bring Chicago to within three points and the game was tied 107-107 after his three-pointer with 1:59 to play in the fourth.

Rose scored the first five points of the fourth on two free throws and a three-pointer after a Raptors turnover to give the Bulls the 86-85 lead. Toronto went ahead by four points after Sonny Weems hit a seven-foot turnaround jumper.

The Raptors went ahead 98-91 on Johnson's dunk with 6:23 left in the fourth. Barbosa twice gave Toronto an eight-point lead, first on a driving layup and then on a 20-foot fadeaway jumper. But when Boozer made a four-foot hook with 3:04 left the Toronto lead was down to four.

The Raptors trailed by three entering the third but Bargnani gave them a 61-60 lead with a jumper with 10:16 to play.

The Raptors led by five after Calderon's running layup with 4:48 left in the third. The lead was nine after Ed Davis hit two free throws and hit a three-foot bank shot in the lane with 2:37 left. But the Bulls cut the Raptors lead to 85-81 after three quarters.

Chicago led 58-55 at the half that closed out with DeRozan's spectacular dunk with five seconds to play. The Bulls led despite shooting 43 per cent from the floor while the Raptors hit 57 per cent. Boozer led Chicago with 15 points at the half while Bargnani led Toronto with 15.

NOTES -- Toronto guard Jerryd Bayless became the first player in team history to score 10 or more points in a game without making a field goal in Tuesday's loss at Charlotte. Bayless made 11-of-12 free throws against the Bobcats. He also had 10 assists for his second career double-double in that game. ...Bulls centre Joakim Noah played his first game since Dec. 15, also against Toronto, after undergoing surgery on his right hand Dec. 16. ...Attendance at Air Canada Centre was 18,105. ... Toronto is home to Phoenix on Friday.

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