TORONTO, Dec. 30-- Toronto Raptors bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a 95-89 victory over Chicago Bulls on Sunday evening at Scotiabank Arena. After losing to Orlando by 29 points two days ago, Toronto got a game-high 27 points and nine rebounds from former Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Forward Pascal Siakam also added 20 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was pleased with his team's effort against a young Bulls team. "They came out and really guarded us well and set the tone with the pace and defence early," said Nurse following the game. "It was an uphill fist fight the whole way but we found a way to make a few plays." After starting the season with a franchise-best 10-1 record and a point-differential of 9.4 points per game, Nurse's squad has struggled over the last 14 games with a 7-7 record while outscoring opponents by just 0.5 points per game. A large part of the struggles is injuries to key players that have forced the team to field 13 different starting lineups, compared to 12 used all of last season. Missing against the Bulls were All-Star guard Kyle Lowry and center Jonas Valanciunas, two of the team's longest tenured players. "We miss both those guys without a doubt. They have been here the longest of anybody and this is their team," said Nurse. "Their investment into this organization has been the greatest and we miss a little bit of that." |