ZACH LaVine scored a game-high 39 points and DeMar DeRozan added 23 to boost the visiting Chicago Bulls to a come-from-behind 109-105 victory against the Toronto Raptors in an Eastern Conference play-in game on Wednesday night (Thursday in Manila).
Chicago advances to face the Miami Heat on Friday (Saturday in Manila). The winner of the game, to be played in Miami, will move on to meet the Milwaukee Bucks, the East’s top seed, in the first round of the playoffs.
The Bulls overcame a 19-point, third-quarter deficit against the Raptors. A 29-28 lead early in the second quarter, which lasted all of 19 seconds, was Chicago’s only advantage until the stretch run.
In the other game, Josh Giddey recorded 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder remained alive for a Western Conference playoff spot by notching a 123-118 victory over the host New Orleans.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 of his game-high 32 points in the second half and Luguentz Dort added 27 points for the Thunder, who will visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night (Saturday in Manila). The winner will earn the No. 8 seed in the West and face the top-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
Brandon Ingram registered 30 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Pelicans, who were outscored by 11 points in the second half. Trey Murphy III scored 21 points, Herbert Jones added 20 and Jonas Valanciunas contributed 16 points and 18 rebounds for New Orleans.
Oklahoma City went ahead to stay on Gilgeous-Alexander’s basket with 28.3 seconds left. Gilgeous-Alexander tallied eight points in the final 1:40.
Jalen Williams added 11 points for the Thunder, who shot 45.7 percent from the field, including 11 of 37 (29.7 percent) from 3-point range.
CJ McCollum added 14 points for New Orleans, which made 48.3 percent of its shots and was 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) from behind the arc. The Pelicans were again without oft-injured Zion Williamson, who hasn’t played since Jan. 2 due to a hamstring injury.
Patrick Beverley’s trey with 5:07 remaining put the Bulls ahead 96-93, a lead they didn’t relinquish.
Still, it wasn’t easy. A Pascal Siakam dunk with 19.7 seconds left brought the Raptors within 105-104. LaVine followed with a pair of free throws, and Siakam hit 1 of 3 at the line before Nikola Vucevic hit two free throws for the Bulls with 11.1 seconds left for a 109-105 lead.
Toronto missed its final two attempts from the field before LaVine corralled the last rebound.
An 18-for-36 effort from the free-throw line took a toll on Toronto, which shot 43.7 percent from the floor compared to 48.8 percent for Chicago.
Siakam had 32 points for the Raptors, who got double-doubles from Fred VanVleet (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Scottie Barnes (19 points, 10 rebounds).
O.G. Anunoby chipped in 13 points.
Vucevic posted 14 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago. Patrick Williams chipped in 10 points and Coby White had nine points and five assists.
Ingram knocked down a 17-footer to give New Orleans a 114-112 lead with 1:21 remaining. Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams split two free throws with 59.8 seconds left before McCollum missed a floater for New Orleans with 37.9 seconds to play.
