DeMar DeRozan bests Jimmy Butler as Raptors score big comeback win to break Bulls' streak

So, evidently, all it takes to break a three-year, 11-game losing streak is a fistfight, a furious fourth-quarter comeback, and having your All-Star shooting guard outduel their All-Star shooting guard over the final 12 minutes. Duly noted.

[Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Baseball: Get in the game and join a league today]

Midway through the third quarter, it looked like the Chicago Bulls would continue their somewhat mystifying mastery of the Toronto Raptors, a stretch of dominance that had seen Toronto go without a win over their Midwestern opponents since Dec. 31, 2013. But after Jimmy Butler drilled a 3-pointer to give Chicago an 88-72 lead, Robin Lopez and Serge Ibaka decided to square off, and haul off, and get hauled off … and then the game started to get weird.

Behind 15 points from Butler, the Bulls finished off a 35-25 third quarter to take a 94-79 edge into the fourth. If not for the presence and potency of DeMar DeRozan, who also had 15 in the third, the Raptors would have been lost. But with DeRozan once again keeping the Raptors’ offense afloat without injured point guard Kyle Lowry, Toronto hung around early in the fourth, getting the deficit down to 12 when DeRozan came back into the game with 7:03 remaining.

From there, a small-ball Raptors lineup — Patrick Patterson at center, P.J. Tucker at power forward, and DeRozan, Cory Joseph and little-used rookie Fred VanVleet — began to chip away at the Bulls’ lead. All of a sudden, a Toronto team that had looked outmatched in the first half was forcing turnovers, getting out in transition, generating 3-pointers and layups, and — even without the ejected Ibaka, and with center Jonas Valanciunas on the bench — protecting the rim:

All that scrambling — Toronto to claw back into the game, Chicago to hold onto its advantage — led to some pretty odd (and, frankly, ragged) moments …

… but that style proved pretty effective for the Raptors. Before the Bulls knew what hit them, the lead had vanished, with a Joseph layup capping a 15-0 Toronto run to tie the game at 109 with 1:50 left in regulation.

The Bulls responded, though — or, more accurately, Butler responded, knocking down a tough baseline J over the outstretched arm of Joseph to put Chicago back on top before beautifully reading a VanVleet drive-and-kick for a steal and a tough bucket the other way (on which he miiiiiight have gotten away with some extra steps) to extend the lead to four:

But DeRozan answered right back, drilling a left elbow jumper over Chicago center Joffrey Lauvergne and splitting a Butler-Denzel Valentine trap on a tremendous drive to the basket to tie the game at 113 with 37.3 seconds left:

Both Butler and DeRozan would get a chance to go for the win in the final half-minute, but neither of their jumpers would connect, sending the game to overtime knotted at 113. Toronto would take over for good in the extra session, with DeRozan punishing Bulls defenders like Rajon Rondo …

… to push the Raps over the finish line for a 122-120 win that snapped their 11-game losing streak to Chicago, and did so in stirring fashion.

As great as Butler was, leading the way with 37 points on 11-for-21 shooting with 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks one steal and zero turnovers in nearly 44 minutes of work:

… DeRozan was just better on Tuesday, scoring a game-high 42 points on 17-for-38 shooting (a new Raptors franchise record for field-goal attempts) to go with eight assists, seven rebounds, a steal and a block in his 43 1/2 minutes:

DeRozan led the way as the Raptors outscored the Bulls 50-32 after the ejections of Lopez and Ibaka, but he had help. Joseph chipped in 10 big points, including the dagger pull-up jumper to put Toronto up six with 17 seconds left in overtime. Tucker was massive, defending Butler on the perimeter, cleaning the glass on the interior (10 rebounds after Ibaka’s ejection) and knocking down a pair of big 3’s in the fourth-quarter comeback push.

Patterson hit the glass, moved his feet and filled in the gaps, VanVleet attacked, pushed and hustled, and the resultant combination was enough to send the Raptors to their third straight win to improve to 42-29, sitting just a half-game back of the Washington Wizards for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference.

[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

Of course, the Raptors also had another source of help.

With the loss, the Bulls fell to 33-38, and now sit in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, 2 1/2 games behind the No. 7 Milwaukee Bucks and two back of the No. 8 Miami Heat, who both won on Tuesday. Getting back into postseason position will also require Chicago leapfrogging the Detroit Pistons, who lost a brutal game Tuesday to the league-worst Brooklyn Nets on a buzzer-beating game-winner by center Brook Lopez, the twin brother of the pugilistic pivot whose ejection for brawling helped spark Toronto’s comeback.

After blowing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter to drop five games under .500 and two games out of the playoffs with 11 games left in the season, the Bulls looked to turn the page with a quick, perfunctory tweet:

… but their fans weren’t having it.

Yes, Alex, they do. And they’ll be back in action on Wednesday against Detroit. Get excited, Chicago!

More NBA coverage:

– – – – – – –

Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @YourManDevine