In perhaps the ugliest game so far in a season which has had more than its share of stinkers, the Chicago Bulls came into the Air Canada Centre and stunned the Raptors with an overtime victory. This was a completely unacceptable loss, as the Bulls demonstrated why they are the worst team in the East this year.
The first half was pretty uneventful, with Toronto building an 8 point lead, and Chicago fighting back to cut the lead to 2 at halftime. Michael Stewart again saw a brief amount of playing time as the Raptors continue to search for a power backup to Willis and Oakley, but the other candidate, John Thomas, did not play at all. In a surprising development, the Bulls outrebounded the Raptors handily, without one quality big man.
The second half was really ugly. In the third quarter, the Bulls went on an offensive run, scoring 31 points and taking a lead of as much as 18 points. But they reverted to their old ways in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors pulled even, led by John Wallace, who finally seems to be settling in this year. The Raptors' offense in the quarter was not particularly impressive, but the Bulls' was just much worse, as they could not hit anything. With the Raptors down by 3 with 30 seconds left, Dee Brown hit a huge 3-pointer to tie the game. The Bulls had the last possession, but Ron Harper bobbled the ball away with under a second left.
In OT, the Raptors went to Willis, who had rested almost the entire fourth quarter. He was fairly successful, and Dee Brown hit another 3 pointer to give the Raptors a 2 point lead. The Bulls tied it up and Toronto got the ball back with about 30 seconds left. Again Brown fired a three, but this time he was not successful. In the Bulls' final play, Randy Brown threw up a 20 foot jumper, which hit the front rim, bounced about three feet in the air and back down through the basket as time expired, stunning the Raptors and causing the Bulls to celebrate.
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