Rose and Butler combine for 56, Bulls defeat Raptors
Jimmy Butler put up his second double-double this season, scoring 27 points and registering 11 rebounds, to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Toronto Raptors, 129-120. The Bulls were on fire in this one, going 40-74 (54.1%) from the field, including 6-12 (50.0%) from three-point range. Chicago (18-9) has now won three in a row.
Butler finished 7-16 from the field (2-3 on 3-pointers) and 11-11 from the free throw line. He also added five blocks and four assists. Other top contributors for Chicago included Pau Gasol with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Taj Gibson with 10 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Lowry had another quality performance for Toronto in the loss, scoring 34 points on 12-22 shooting (4-8 on 3-point attempts), in addition to going 6-10 from the free throw line. Jonas Valanciunas chipped in 20 points and nine rebounds and Patrick Patterson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Bulls combined an eFG% of 58.1% with 50.0% 3-point shooting. They are undefeated (3-0) this year when registering marks above 55% and 40% in those respective statistics. The Raptors, on the other hand, are 3-1 when allowing opponents to hit those marks.
This drops Toronto (22-7) to 0-2 against Chicago on the year.
Coming up next, the Bulls play the Washington Wizards, who are 19-7 on the year. The Raptors go up against the Los Angeles Clippers, currently 19-9 this season.
