Derrick Rose Injured Again As Chicago Bulls Win Over Toronto Raptors In Battle Between East Leaders
Derrick Rose suffered a hamstring injury in the Chicago Bulls’ 100-93 over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night. The Bulls superstar suffered the injury in the fourth quarter in the match-up between the current East leaders. On this night, it was the Bulls who were the East’s best tying the Raptors atop the conference with a 7-2 win-loss record with the victory.
Rose finished with 20 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists and told reporters post-game that the injury was non-serious. Rose will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Chicago and his status against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday is still up in the air. Big man Pau Gasol led the game in scoring with 27 points and added 11 boards and 3 blocked shot for Chicago, which shot 48.1 per cent from the field (37/77 FGs).
The Bulls survived a 19-turnover night and a poor 68.8 per cent shooting from the line (22/32 FTs) owing to superior rebounding numbers, 48-38. Toronto only had 14 turnovers and shot better at the line (15/21 FTs) but just couldn’t get the stops or the hit the shots in the crucial third quarter, when Chicago outscored them, 35-14.
The Raptors led 52-45 at halftime break. After Chicago’s major rally in the third when the Bulls took the big lead, the Raptors were able to cut down the advantage down to 5 points just under two minutes to go in the game.
Toronto was led by Kyle Lowry who had a good all-around game of 20 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Raptors star wingman DeMar DeRozan was however limited to 10 points on just 3-of-17 shooting and was primarily guarded by defensive stalwart Jimmy Butler, who even contributed his own 21 markers.
Other Toronto starters who contributed were Amir Johnson (14 points) and Terrence Ross (12 points) while James Johnson added 16 points and 4 blocked shots off the bench.
Upcoming Schedule (Next 3 Games):
Chicago Bulls: vs. Indiana Pacers, at Los Angeles Clippers, at Sacramento Kings
Toronto Raptors: vs. Utah Jazz, vs. Memphis Grizzlies, vs. Milwaukee Bucks
