Zach LaVine scored 30 of his 39 points in the second half, and the Chicago Bulls stormed back from a 19-point deficit to become the first No. 10 seed to win an NBA play-in game, beating the Toronto Raptors 109-105 on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
DeMar DeRozan added 23 points, playing 39 of the 48 minutes against his former team. The Bulls advanced to a Friday meeting with the Heat in Miami (6 p.m., TNT), with the winner earning the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and a first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
That series will tip off Sunday in Milwaukee — and would be a rematch for the Bulls of last season’s first-round loss to the Bucks.
The Raptors led by 11 at halftime on Fred VanVleet’s 40-foot haymaker at the buzzer, and after the Bulls opened the second half with two missed shots and two turnovers, the Raptors stretched the lead to 19 before LaVine began to take over.
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