LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Zach LaVine inspired a fightback as the Chicago Bulls eliminated the Toronto Raptors from the NBA play-in tournament Wednesday, while rising Australian star Josh Giddey helped the Oklahoma City Thunder end the New Orleans Pelicans’ season.
LaVine finished with 39 points – 30 of them scored after half-time ˗ in a 109-105 road victory for the Bulls, who will now face Miami on Friday with the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs up for grabs.
LaVine and former Toronto star DeMar DeRozan showed superb composure down the stretch as Chicago recovered from a 19-point third-quarter deficit to snatch a win that left Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena in stunned silence.
DeRozan finished with 23 points while Nikola Vucevic finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.
Chicago coach Billy Donovan hailed LaVine’s role in the comeback as “extraordinary.”
“He was phenomenal,” Donovan said. “What he did in that third quarter and going into the fourth quarter -– it would have been very difficult for us to have won that game had he not done that.
“His performance was extraordinary. It gave us life, and it gave us hope…he had that mentality where he was going to do whatever he had to get us back in the game.”
Pascal Siakam (32 points) and Fred VanVleet (26) were both outstanding for Toronto, with VanVleet electrifying the home crowd with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from near half-way as the second quarter ended.
In Wednesday’s other game, Oklahoma City’s youthful line-up showed tremendous poise under pressure to grind out a 123-118 victory over the Pelicans in New Orleans.
That result means the Thunder will face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday with the chance to advance into the playoffs, while the Pelicans are now eliminated.
The Melbourne-born Giddey — still only 20 — produced a stunning performance with 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the oldest member of the Thunder starting line-up at 24, also came up big with 32 points, while the 23-year-old Lu Dort finished with 27 points.
