Raptors at Bulls
THE STORY: The Chicago Bulls defeated the Toronto Raptors earlier this week without guard Derrick Rose, and will try to do it again on Saturday. Rose will miss his sixth straight game with a groin injury and the Bulls are 11-4 this season when the reigning MVP sits out. Chicago has won three consecutive games. Toronto broke a four-game losing streak with an impressive 96-79 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Rogers Sportsnet (Toronto), WGN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (16-32): Guard DeMar DeRozan had a season-best 30 points against New York but missed the final three minutes after injuring his left ankle. DeRozan will be re-evaluated prior to the game against Chicago but is expected to play. He scored 23 points in the loss to Chicago on Wednesday. Another bright spot against the Knicks was the play of forward Andrea Bargnani, who scored 21 points for his highest output in nine games since returning from a calf injury. Point guard Jose Calderon missed all 10 shots but had 10 assists.
ABOUT THE BULLS (39-10): Backup point guard John Lucas has made valuable contributions with Rose sidelined. Lucas scored 13 fourth-quarter points as Chicago rallied to defeat the Raptors in Toronto on Wednesday. Lucas has scoring outputs of 24 points against the Miami Heat and 20 against the Orlando Magic during Rose’s latest absence. C.J. Watson has started all five games Rose has missed and is averaging 11.4 points during the stretch. Watson reached double digits in four of them and is playing through an ankle injury.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Chicago has defeated Toronto twice this season while allowing an average of 73 points.
2. Raptors guard Jerryd Bayless (hip) missed the New York game and is also expected to be sidelined against the Bulls.
3. Bulls forward Luol Deng has 17 points and 10 rebounds against Toronto for his first double-double since Feb. 28.