Bulls at Raptors
THE STORY: Derrick Rose will sit out his fifth consecutive game when the Chicago Bulls visit the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. Rose is sidelined with a groin injury and the Bulls improved to 10-4 without him this season by trouncing the Orlando Magic on Monday, allowing franchise regular-season record 59 points in the process. Toronto finished a five-game road trip by falling to the New York Knicks on Tuesday.The Bulls host the Raptors on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, WCIU (Chicago), SNET (Toronto)
ABOUT THE BULLS (38-10): Chicago’s previous mark for fewest points allowed was 62 before the splendid effort against the Magic. The Bulls limited Orlando to 35.3 percent shooting in a smothering effort in which the Magic tallied just 26 second-half points. “It’s one game at the end of the day,” center Joakim Noah said. But we felt like it was probably one of our best defensive efforts of the year. We’ve just got to keep it up, keep learning from what we’re doing well, what we can do better, stay humble, stay driven and hopefully get the good thing at the end.”
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (15-31): Toronto continues to deal with a revolving door of injuries. Point guard Jose Calderon returned from a five-game absence due to an ankle injury against the Knicks but backup Jerryd Bayless left the game with a hip injury. The Raptors recently got forward Andrea Bargnani back from the injured list after he missed 20 games with a calf injury. Toronto is a bit thin in the backcourt right now after trading veteran Leandro Barbosa to the Indiana Pacers at the trading deadline. Calderon had 11 points and nine assists against the Knicks.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Chicago held Toronto to 15 or fewer points in three different quarters when it beat the Raptors 77-64 on Jan. 13.
2. Bulls forward Carlos Boozer had 24 points, 13 rebounds and four steals in the win over Orlando.
3. Bargnani is averaging just 13.1 points on 35.2 percent shooting in seven games since returning from injury.