Raptors Overpower Bulls With 99-77 Win

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Lowry scored 16 points, Jonas Valancius added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls 99-77 Saturday night.

DeMar DeRozan scored 15 and Amir Johnson added 14 points and eight rebounds to help the Raptors earn their second win in as many nights after dropping six of seven.

They led by 16 early in the third, and pulled away in the fourth after the gap dwindled to four, sending the Bulls to their 10th loss in 13 games.

Luol Deng led Chicago with 17 points and Mike Dunleavy Jr. scored 14. Joakim Noah added 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Jimmy Butler scored 11. But it was another difficult night for the Bulls.

They shot just 36 percent and were 6 of 18 on 3-pointers. They were also missing Kirk Hinrich, who sat out with back stiffness.

The Raptors led 51-41 at the half after Lowry nailed a 20-foot jumper and open 3-pointer in the closing seconds, and they scored the first six of the third quarter, with the Bulls turning it over twice and missing four shots

Johnson's jumper made it 57-41 three minutes into the quarter, but Bulls started to chip away.

Marquis Teague banked in a 3 in the closing minute of the third to make it 73-66, and D.J. Augustin hit one early in the fourth to make it a four-point game.

But a jumper by DeRozan, a layup by Tyler Hansbrough and two free throws by Vasquez quickly got it back up to 79-69.

It hasn't been an easy stretch for either team.

The Bulls saw their championship visions get crushed when they lost Derrick Rose to another knee injury. Just about every other key player has been banged up, too.

The Raptors traded the struggling Rudy Gay to Sacramento this week in a seven-player trade that gave them point guard Greivis Vasquez and forwards Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes along with financial flexibility after the season.

Augustin was signed by Chicago after he was waived by Toronto on Monday.

NOTES: Raptors coach Dwane Casey said Augustin could fill a need for Chicago, something he was unable to do in Toronto. "We had a gluttony," he said. "Kyle Lowry was getting a lot of minutes." Signed as a free agent in July, he appeared in 10 games this year with the Raptors and averaged 2.1 points and 1.0 assists for Toronto. ... Hinrich missed his first game this season.

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