The Ticket Chest

Raptors Top Bulls 114-94 Friday Night in Chicago

Saturday, January 24th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments

The Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls 114-94 on Friday night at the United Center. The Raptors snapped their 7-game losing streak, and the loss extended the Bulls losing streak to 4 games. After a 54-54 halftime tie, the Raptors outscored the Bulls 29-20 in the 3rd quarter and 31-20 in the 4th quarter. Jose Calderon led the Raptors with 23 points and 10 assists. Andrew Bargnani added 22 points and 5 rebounds, while Toronto super star Chris Bosh had a solid all-around night – 17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 blocked shots. Toronto out-shot Chicago 56% to 46% from the field. Ben Gordon led the Bulls with 19 points, while Derrick Rose added 12 points. The Bulls 2 best players came off the bench – Andres Nocioni with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists and Kirk Hinrich with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. The Bulls are no a season-high 8 games under .500.

Tags: Chicago Bulls, NBA, Toronto Raptors

Bulls Get Surpise 102-98 Victory Over Raptors in Toronto

Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | Chicago Bulls, NBA, Sports | No Comments

The Chicago Bulls have been struggling since the middle of December and the road has not been kind to the weary Chicago team. After watching a 9-point 1st quarter lead disappear into a 1-point halftime deficit, the Bulls could have just cashed it in for the night, as they have done so many times this season. But after an even 3rd quarter in which each team scored 21 points and the Raptors still led by 1, the Bulls showed some resilience and spunk in the 4th quarter. The Bulls rode rookie guard Derrick Rose who scored 17 of his 25 points in the 4th quarter to the 4-point victory. In addition to Rose’s Bulls game-high 25 points, Rose also dished out 10 assists and only turned the ball over once in 38 minutes. Luol Deng, making his first start since returning from an ankle injury had one of his best games of the season – 16 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists in 39 minutes of play. Another player who just returned from injury – Kirk Hinrich – also had a productive night off the bench. In 32 minutes of play, Hinrich knocked in 12 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

It will be nice to see how Vinny Del Negro handles his team now that just about everyone is healthy. From the looks of it, Del Negro might continue to go with a starting lineup of Rose and Ben Gordon at guard, Drew Gooden at center (with Joakim Noah filling in when Gooden is injured), and Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas at forward. Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni will continue to log significant minutes off the bench. Larry Hughes and mid-season pick up Lindsay Hunter may be th odd-men out in the near future. Hughes did not play in Wednesday night’s game in Toronto and Hunter has not played in the Bulls last 2 games. The Bulls have until Saturday, January 17th to determine whether or not to keep Hunter or waive him before the deadline. If the Bulls don’t waive Hunter by Saturday, his contract becomes guaranteed for the entire season.

Next up for the Bulls are 2 home games at the United Center against 2 of the hottest teams in the NBA. The Bulls take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night and the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. Each team has won 8 of their last 10 games. The Bulls are 17-22 and find themselves 1.5 games out of the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference trailing the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tags: Chicago Bulls, NBA, Toronto Raptors