Raptors at Bulls
The Toronto Raptors, who will enter the All-Star break with the best record in the Eastern Conference, look to extend their latest winning streak to a season-best seven games when they visit the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Toronto, which holds a one-game lead over Boston for the top spot in the East, has reeled off six straight victories for the third time this season.
The Raptors recorded a 115-112 victory over Miami on Tuesday as All-Star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points to top the 20-point mark for the fifth time in eight games. However, the postgame atmosphere wasn't very cheery as Toronto led by 17 points after three quarters and had to fight to land the victory. Chicago is coming off just its second victory in 10 games, a 105-101 triumph over Orlando on Monday. The Bulls let an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead slip away before Zach LaVine stole the ball and delivered the tiebreaking dunk with 12.8 seconds to play.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One (Toronto), NBCS Chicago
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (40-16): Coach Dwane Casey was among those who were upset following Tuesday's victory as he was distressed over seeing his club get outscored 31-17 in the final quarter before surviving Miami's charge. "We're professionals," Casey told reporters. "We've seen games like this before, we know what to do in those games. It's a matter of attitude and making sure we execute. Not just on the offensive end, we had some (bleep)-poor performances on the defensive end, too, with our switches." Kyle Lowry recorded 22 points and eight assists against the Heat after averaging 9.5 points on 6-of-19 shooting over his previous two games.
ABOUT THE BULLS (20-36): LaVine has only played in 13 games for Chicago but is displaying why the organization wanted him as part of the return in the offseason trade that sent All-Star Jimmy Butler to Minnesota. He is averaging 17.3 points and topped 20 in each of his previous four games before registering 18 against Orlando, an effort in which his instincts were on display with the Magic playing for the final shot. "I was trying to be aggressive on the inbounds, trying to make it hard for (guard Shelvin Mack) to catch," LaVine told reporters. "I wasn't trying to obviously go for a steal and be able to get out of position, but it opened up like it did."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. DeRozan scored 35 points in a 124-115 triumph over the Bulls on Jan. 3 - the Raptors' fourth straight win in the all-time series.
2. Toronto PF Serge Ibaka recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds against Miami for his first double-double since Jan. 26.
3. Chicago PG Kris Dunn (concussion) is a game-time decision after missing the last 11 contests.