'Everybody eats': Raptors bend, don't break in gutsy win over Bulls to pull back to .500

The Toronto Raptors were able to hold off the Chicago Bulls behind a full-team effort, beating them 121-108 at Scotiabank Arena on Friday night.

All five of Toronto's starters finished with at least 13 points, while Gary Trent Jr. chipped in off the bench with 16. Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl had double-doubles, as the Raptors held a double-digit lead for the majority of the matchup, to move up to an 8-8 record in the Eastern Conference.

“The more points we score, there's more food on the table to eat,” said head coach Darko Rajaković, highlighting the team’s 32 assists that led to 121 points.

“That’s the motto that we're going after: ‘Everybody eats and everybody's playing together.’ We got everybody's share. I'm really, really proud. I don't have words to describe how proud I am of our guys and their unselfishness and willingness to play together.”

Toronto held a double-digit lead starting from about the four-minute mark of the first, all the way until the Bulls put on a 10-0 run in the fourth to cut it to single digits with about five minutes to go. That late run was thanks largely to a stellar performance from Zach LaVine, who had a game-high 36 points on 16-23 shooting.

LaVine's heroics were not enough though, as the Raptors responded accordingly with a 14-6 run of their own to ultimately put the game away.

DeRozan calls out Raptors over lack of 'respect'

The matchup was part of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament. However, based on their past performance and the results of their group going into Friday’s game, the Raptors were already eliminated from moving forward in the tournament. Therefore, their result against the Bulls only counted toward regular-season standings.

Things got a bit chippy to finish the game, as the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam decided to take a shot with about three seconds left, despite Toronto being up 12 points. DeMar DeRozan took offence and got into it with the Raptors' bench, ultimately leading to his second technical foul of the night — which resulted in an ejection.

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said post-game that the explanation he got from Rajaković was that the Raptors were trying to score as many points as they could, since point differential matters in the tournament in cases of tied records. According to Sportsnet's Michael Grange, "the Raptors claim they didn’t know they had been eliminated."

DeRozan says he was aware of the Raptors' fate, but regardless of their knowledge, seeing them score as many points as possible rubbed him the wrong way. He would have rather seen his opponent dribble out the final 24-second shot clock — an unwritten NBA rule.

“I don’t care about no In-Season Tournament points or none of that. Just respect for the game,” said DeRozan.

"Everybody yelling over there, ‘score, score, score, score.’ Take the win; we get out of here. If the roles are reversed — if we need the points, the in-season points or not — just for the respect I have for my opponents, I hold the ball, especially if there’s no shot clock. That's just me.”

DeRozan — who started his career with the Raptors and leads the franchise in points — was also critical of his own Bulls post-game, saying this is the most “frustrated” he’s been in years as the team faces its struggles with a 5-12 record.

He called the loss "self-inflicted," because the Bulls had their "opportunities." As a result of the loss, Chicago is now also eliminated from the In-Season Tournament.

For the Raptors, they were able to take hold of the Bulls from the start, winning the first quarter 36-22. Rajaković calls it “high level basketball,” especially from Siakam, who had six assists in the opening frame. The team as a whole had 14 assists on 16 made field goals in the first, as Rajaković joked that they were hoping to get “60 assists” on the night.

In the first, Trent Jr. led the way with 10 of his 16 points. Rajaković says that the shooting guard matched “the description of his job” tonight, and did “an outstanding job,” by getting up 13 shots in his 20 minutes of action.

“I like Gary. I pass the ball to Gary and he shoots it. I love that,” said Barnes.

OG Anunoby, who finished with a team-high 26 points, and Barnes, who had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists with a game-high 19-plus/minus, both praised the team's effort to share the rock. As a result, It helped the team attack the paint, where they made their first 13 shots. They’d ultimately finish the game with 50 paint points on 25-35 shooting.

With some minor lapses, the Raptors comfortably cruised against the Bulls, going up by as much as 20 at various points.

It wasn't until the fourth quarter when LaVine was able to cut the lead to single digits. Despite that, Rajaković wasn’t too worried.

“It’s called an NBA game,” said the head coach, noting it’s unrealistic to hold a 15-point lead all night, because teams always go on runs. Instead, it's about finding ways to adjust, as the Raptors came out refocused following a timeout.

“I give credit to the Chicago Bulls. They have a lot of talent there as well and we’re going to respect those guys.”

Moving forward, Rajaković says he wants the team to focus on how they’re reading the game, especially the coverages that teams are throwing at them, with switches and different angles of screens. He says that “time” is both their “biggest ally and biggest enemy” because they don’t have enough of it as they try to learn.

On Saturday, they’ll have a practice to try to address their weaknesses, before they hit the road for two games, starting with a matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, Nov. 26.