Zach LaVine took over in the second half as the Chicago Bulls rallied past the Toronto Raptors 109-105 on Wednesday to win their single-elimination play-in game.
LaVine scored 30 of his 39 points in the second half for Chicago, which trailed by as many as 18 points in the game. Former Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan scored 23 and pulled down seven rebounds.
Chicago will face the Heat in Miami on Friday in the second round of the play-in tournament.
The winner of that game will be the eighth seed in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs, playing the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
Atlanta had already emerged as the seventh seed after the Hawks beat Miami 116-105 on Tuesday in their first-round play-in game.
Fred VanVleet had a double-double with 26 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Toronto, including seven three-pointers. The Raptors hosted the game after finishing the regular season ninth in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
All-star forward Pascal Siakam scored 32 with nine rebounds for the Raptors and Scottie Barnes added 19.
Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (43) slam-dunks the ball past Chicago Bulls centre Nikola Vucevic (9) and Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) during second half NBA basketball action in Toronto on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
VanVleet sank a buzzer-beating three-pointer before intermission, bringing the 19,800 fans at Scotiabank Arena to their feet and gave the Raptors a 58-47 lead, their largest of the game up to that point. It also improved VanVleet’s shooting from beyond the arc to 4 of 5 after 24 minutes, better than the entire Bulls lineup, who had gone 2 for 11 from three-point range in the half.
The Raptors didn’t let up in the third, starting the quarter on a 10-3 run to open up an 18-point lead.
LaVine scored 11 points in the final three minutes of the third quarter – including eight in a row – to cut Chicago’s deficit to nine. Despite the outburst from the Bulls all-star guard, Toronto entered the fourth quarter with an 81-72 lead.
After a back-and-forth start to the fourth, Chicago closed the gap to three thanks to an 8-0 run, with LaVine responsible for six of those points.
Alex Caruso quieted the sold-out crowd with a three-pointer to tie it 91-91 with 6:26 left on the clock. Barnes came right back with a layup, forcing Chicago head coach Billy Donovan to call a timeout.
On the ensuing possession, Caruso stole the ball from O.G. Anunoby for a breakaway layup.
Patrick Beverly sank a three-pointer on the next Bulls possession for their first lead of the game. Siakam’s dunk gave the fans life but LaVine replied with a 20-foot jumper to maintain a three-point lead before Barnes and DeRozan exchanged field goals.
VanVleet missed a deep three-pointer but the rebound came out to Toronto guard Gary Trent Jr., who passed it back to VanVleet for another chance at the game-tying shot. VanVleet didn’t miss on his second chance to tie it 100-100 with 3:10 left to play.
LaVine answered with a two-pointer and then DeRozan grabbed a defensive rebound and scored at the other end to give the Bulls a four-point lead with less than two minutes to go.
Barnes made one of two free throws on the next Raptors possession. Siakam was fouled by Beverley with 50 seconds left on the clock, making one of his two shots at the charity stripe to cut Chicago’s lead to two.
DeRozan then hit a free throw with 28.7 seconds remaining, forcing a Toronto timeout. On the ensuing possession, Siakam drove to the net for a two-handed dunk and a one-point Raptors deficit.
Anunoby fouled LaVine after Caruso inbounded the ball to him, sending him to the free-throw line. LaVine hit both shots, giving the Raptors 17.9 seconds to tie the game.
Feeding the ball to Siakam on the inbound pass, Caruso immediately fouled the Toronto all-star forward for three free throws.
Siakam sank his first one, but clanked it with his second and the ball rolled off the rim with his third, keeping Chicago ahead by two.
Nikola Vucevic was fouled on his rebound of Siakam’s final free throw and he made both of his free throws for the game’s final scores.
CELEBRITY FANS
Former Bulls and Raptors forward Charles Oakley, notably wearing Toronto gear, sat in Drake’s courtside seat for the game. Canadian Olympian Penny Oleksiak and Paralympian Marissa Papaconstantinou were also in the crowd, as was actor Jaleel White, best known for playing Steve Urkel in the 1990s family sitcom Family Matters.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
