By Canadian Press

Bulls hold off late Raptors charge as Toronto centre Jakob Poeltl leaves game early

Dec 16, 2024 | 9:32 PM

TORONTO — Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and five rebounds as the Chicago Bulls held off the Toronto Raptors 122-121 on Monday.

Cody White scored 19 points and added five assists for Chicago (12-15). Josh Giddey had 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists before leaving the game in the third quarter after he hurt his right ankle.

RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., led all scorers with 32 points as Toronto (7-20) lost its fifth straight. He also had nine assists and five rebounds. Gradey Dick finished with 27 points and six rebounds.

Montreal’s Chris Boucher came off the bench for a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards after he didn’t play in the Raptors’ last three games.

Centre Jakob Poeltl had six points, five rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes of play, but added to Toronto’s injury woes when he strained his left groin early in the fourth quarter.

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All-star forward Scottie Barnes participated in shootaround with the Raptors on Monday morning. Head coach Darko Rajakovic said Barnes still wasn’t cleared for contact as he recovers from a sprained right ankle but might be able to have his workload ramped up starting with practice on Tuesday.

There were no updates for starting point guard Immanuel Quickley (partially torn UCL) and veteran forward Bruce Brown (arthroscopic surgery).

A 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter, punctuated by Barrett’s floater from four-feet out, pulled the Raptors to within one with 2:28 to go.

Trailing by three with 36 seconds to play, Barrett missed another jump shot this time from six feet out. Vucevic scored on Chicago’s next possession to extend the Bulls’ lead to five.

Reserve point guard Jamal Shead grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession and laid in the ball for Toronto before Talen Horton-Tucker made one of two free throws. Shead made a buzzer-beating three as time expired for the game’s final score.

TAKEAWAYS

Bulls: Tough interior defence in the first half stymied Barrett and Poeltl, with the Bulls regularly disrupting Toronto’s strong transition offence. Chicago also got 50 points off the bench, led by Horton-Tucker’s 15-point performance.

Raptors: Woeful three-point shooting in the first half hurt Toronto, with the hosts going 3-for-15 from beyond the arc. They finished 9-for-26 on three-pointer attempts, three better than their season-worst performance.

KEY MOMENT

Poeltl slipped badly and strained his groin just 1:48 into the fourth quarter, gingerly walking to the Raptors locker room to end his night. His absence freed Vucevic up to finish the game strong.

KEY STAT

Toronto has had 11 players on its inactive list this season due to injury for a total of 107 games missed. The Raptors have paid more than US$23 million to injured players this season, second most in the NBA behind the New Orleans Pelicans.

UP NEXT

Bulls: Continue their East Coast road trip with a stop in Boston against the NBA champion Celtics on Thursday.

Raptors: Have two days off before hosting the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press