It was one of those grimy games that will become more frequent as the NBA season winds down, tough and physical with few stretches of up-and-down transition or baskets by the bucketful.
And the Raptors were able to gut out an important victory, registering a 104-98 win over the Chicago Bulls at the Scotiabank Arena. The victory moved Toronto within one game of reaching .500 for the first time since early December.
Facing a Chicago defence that has been No. 1 in overall efficiency since Jan. 1, the Raptors got just enough scoring and a tremendous defensive effort to solidify their hold on a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament heading into a big two-game series in Washington later this week,
Pascal Siakam had 20 points and Gary Trent Jr.