Giddey Held to Zero Rebounds as Raptors Steamroll Bulls 139-109

RJ Barrett scored 23 points, Brandon Ingram had 18 on near-perfect shooting, and the Toronto Raptors buried the Chicago Bulls 139-109 on Wednesday night at the United Center. Toronto shot 57 percent from the field, 42 percent from three, and led wire-to-wire to complete a three-game season sweep of Chicago. The Raptors have won three straight and improve to 39-29. The Bulls drop to 28-41 and have now lost three of their last four.

Matas Buzelis led Chicago with 19 points and 7 rebounds but shot just 6-of-15 from the field. Rob Dillingham added 15 points off the bench and Collin Sexton contributed 14 points and 5 assists in his return from a left leg injury. Josh Giddey, coming off a stretch in which he posted five triple-doubles and averaged 19 points, 12 assists, and 11.7 rebounds over his previous seven games, was held to 9 points on 4-of-13 shooting with zero rebounds and an abysmal minus-30. Scottie Barnes had 18 points and 7 rebounds for Toronto, Ja'Kobe Walter scored 18 off the bench, and Jakob Poeltl finished with 17 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.

Over Before Halftime

This one was decided early. Toronto opened the game on an 8-0 run — Barrett hit a driving floater on the first possession, then drilled a three off an Immanuel Quickley assist, and Ingram buried a 23-footer on the very next trip — while Chicago missed its first three shots and turned it over twice in the first two minutes. By the time Jalen Smith made a pair of free throws at the 9:06 mark of the first quarter, the Bulls trailed 8-2 and were already fighting from behind. Giddey hit a three at 8:29 to make it 10-5, but the Raptors answered with an Ingram 16-footer and a Barnes turnaround to push the lead back to double digits. Toronto shot 60 percent in the first quarter and led 32-17 after twelve minutes.

The second quarter offered a brief window of hope. Sexton, making his first appearance since the left leg injury, provided an immediate spark off the bench. He scored 5 points in five first-quarter minutes and then hit a driving floater and converted the and-one with 5:20 left in the second to pull Chicago within 53-41. It was the closest the Bulls had been since early in the first. Toronto's response was decisive: a 17-2 run that effectively ended the game before halftime. Quickley hit a 10-footer, Barnes drilled a three off a Sandro Mamukelashvili assist, and Barrett capped the run with a reverse layup that made it 70-43 with 1:08 remaining. At halftime, it was 72-45. The Bulls had shot 38.5 percent from the field and committed 11 turnovers that led to 20 Toronto points. Ingram had 13 first-half points on 6-of-6 shooting. Barrett had 14.

The third quarter was more of the same. Toronto extended its lead to as many as 38, and there was no sustained run by Chicago to create even a moment of doubt. Buzelis had his best stretch of the game, scoring 10 points in the period on 3-of-6 shooting with a pair of threes, and Smith hit a three to briefly perk up the home crowd. But Barrett added 9 more points, Mamukelashvili scored 9 off the bench, and Walter hit a three and converted a layup-and-one sequence to push the Toronto lead to 108-76 entering the fourth. By then, the starters on both sides were done for the night.

The fourth quarter was extended garbage time. Dillingham was the standout in the closing period, scoring 11 of his 15 points in the final frame on 5-of-7 shooting with a three. Yuki Kawamura added 5 points and 2 assists. Patrick Williams scored 3 on a running layup and a free throw. For Toronto, Poeltl poured in 8 points in just three minutes of fourth-quarter action on 4-of-4 shooting, and Gradey Dick had a running dunk and a three. The final: Raptors 139, Bulls 109.

After Five Triple-Doubles, a Night to Forget for Giddey

There is no way to dress this one up. Giddey finished with 9 points on 4-of-13 shooting, 1-of-8 from three, zero rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 turnovers in 27 minutes. The minus-30 was the worst mark on either team. Coming into Wednesday, Giddey had posted five triple-doubles in seven games and averaged 19 points, 12 assists, and 11.7 rebounds across that stretch — one of the most productive stretches by any Bull this season. Against Toronto, he looked nothing like that player. He missed his first three shots, committed an out-of-bounds turnover on the fourth possession of the game, and went 0-of-4 from the field in the second quarter while posting a -13 in nine minutes. He did not play in the fourth.

The zero rebounds are worth dwelling on. Giddey had been averaging nearly 12 rebounds per game during his seven-game tear. On Wednesday he did not grab a single one — offensive or defensive — in 27 minutes of action. Toronto dominated the glass 43-36 as a team, but the individual number speaks to the kind of night Giddey had: disconnected, unable to find his spots, and outpaced by a Raptors offense that ran at a tempo Chicago could not match. One bad game does not erase the trajectory. But the margin between Giddey at his best and Giddey at his worst remains wider than you'd like from a player you're building around.

On the opposite end, Buzelis continued to produce even in a losing effort. His 19 points and 7 rebounds led the team, and his best stretch came in the third quarter where he scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting including a pair of threes. He also posted 2 steals and a block. The efficiency was not great — 6-of-15 overall and 3-of-8 from deep — but he was the one Bull on the floor who competed for the full 31 minutes he played and found ways to score in a game that offered very little structure to work within.

The bench provided the only real bright spots. Dillingham's 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting showed the kind of scoring punch he can provide when given room to operate, and his 11 fourth-quarter points came with pace and confidence — driving layups, a pullup jumper, a three off a Sexton assist. Sexton's return was encouraging: 14 points, 5 assists, and zero turnovers in 18 minutes. He gave the Bulls a secondary ball-handler who could create for himself and others, and his three-point play in the second quarter was the only moment all night when the game felt like it might tighten. Leonard Miller was efficient with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and Tre Jones added 5 assists despite a rough shooting night.

Looking Ahead

The Bulls are 28-41 and sit 21.5 games behind Detroit in the Central Division. The homestand continues Thursday night against Cleveland at 7:00 p.m. CT. The Cavaliers are 42-27 and riding a winning streak of their own — another tall order for a Bulls team that has gone 4-10 since the All-Star break and is clearly playing out the string. The question at this point is not about wins and losses; it is about whether the young core — Giddey, Buzelis, Dillingham, Miller — can finish the season showing consistent growth. Wednesday was not that.

For Toronto, the 139-109 demolition completed a season sweep of Chicago (123-107, 110-101, 139-109) and extended the Raptors' winning streak to three games. They sit comfortably in third place in the Atlantic Division at 39-29, 6.5 games behind Boston. Wednesday's game opened a five-game road trip that continues Friday night in Denver.