NBA: Bulls beat Raptors, clinch no worse than play-in berth

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Coby White scored 28 points and Talen Horton-Tucker added a season-high 27 as the Chicago Bulls ended the visiting Toronto Raptors’ four-game winning streak with a 137-118 victory on Tuesday night.

Nikola Vucevic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Chicago (34-42), which led by as many as 28 and snapped a two-game losing skid. Josh Giddey added 17 points and 12 assists, and Kevin Huerter scored 16.

Chicago secured a spot in the play-in tournament for a third consecutive season with the victory. The Bulls moved into the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, one-half game behind the idle Miami Heat.

Immanuel Quickley and Ja’Kobe Walter led Toronto (28-48) with 17 points apiece. Orlando Robinson and A.J. Lawson each scored 13 points, and Jakob Poeltl added 12.

Matas Buzelis finished with nine points and a career-high four steals for the Bulls, who bounced back from a 145-117 road loss to the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.

The Bulls completed a four-game series sweep of the Raptors while shooting 56.8 percent from the field and 41.2 percent (14 of 34) from 3-point range.

Chicago led 39-32 at the end of the first quarter after Buzelis hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The teams shot a combined 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) from 3-point range for the period.

The Bulls extended their lead to 64-50 with 2:58 left in the second quarter on a 3-pointer by White, who was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March prior to the game.

Chicago held a 70-57 advantage at the half after shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 10 of 20 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.

Huerter returned after missing one game with a sprained right thumb and finished 7 of 9 from the floor. His 3-pointer gave the Bulls a 92-74 lead with 3:25 left in the third quarter.

Chicago led 102-79 at the end of the third quarter and remained in control throughout the fourth period. White drilled a 3-pointer with 6:36 left in the contest to give the Bulls a commanding 117-91 lead.

Zach Collins contributed seven points and 12 rebounds for Chicago, which has won 10 of its last 14 games.

–Field Level Media

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