• Recap
• Bleachers

Deng scores 22 points as Bulls beat Raptors

Oct 21, 2010 - 2:55 AM TORONTO (AP) -- The Chicago Bulls are learning how difficult it is to please new coach Tom Thibodeau when it comes to playing defense.

Luol Deng scored 22 points, Derrick Rose had 20 and the Bulls beat the Toronto Raptors 110-103 in exhibition play Wednesday night, snapping a two-game losing streak.

Rose also had nine assists and eight rebounds.

"We showed a lot of fight tonight, coming back on a good, young team and coming out with a win," Rose said.

Brian Scalabrine had 14 points and James Johnson scored 13 of his 14 in the fourth quarter as the Bulls improved to 3-5 in the preseason. Chicago's C.J. Watson scored 12 points and Kurt Thomas had 10.

Thibodeau was happy with his team's offensive output but offered a long list of complaints about the defensive effort in the second and fourth quarters.

"Transition, pick-and-roll defense, challenging shots, not protecting the paint, from A to Z, it just wasn't there," Thibodeau said. "We've got to do a lot better job, and we're capable.

"If we're just going to rely on our offense, we're going to be in trouble."

According to Deng, it's the same message the former Celtics assistant has been hammering home throughout training camp.

"That's coach," Deng said. "He expects excellence out of us and I'm glad that he does. It's just going to make us all better and it's going to make us better as a team."

Scalabrine, who played under Thibodeau with the Celtics, knows how hard it is to satisfy the coach's high expectations.

"I see the things that we do wrong and they're easily correctable," Scalabrine said. "It's just a matter of time. We weren't flawless our first year (in Boston) either, we had to work out some kinks."

Johnson said Thibodeau demands playoff-level intensity on the defensive end.

"The first we start out every day (in practice) is a close-out drill," Johnson said. "He knows what he wants and the guys know what he expects out of them and we go from there."

Even if Thibodeau wasn't happy with his team's performance, Toronto coach Jay Triano was impressed.

"This team plays defense the way we should," Triano said. "They get up on the 3-point shooter."

Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points for the Raptors, with Andrea Bargnani adding 19.

DeMar DeRozan had 15 points while Jarrett Jack and Linas Kleiza each had 12 for the Raptors, who dropped to 3-4.

Toronto led 54-50 at the half, but Chicago rallied to take a 78-75 lead into the fourth.

The Bulls outrebounded the Raptors 44-22 in a 109-88 home victory on Oct. 12, but Toronto had the edge on this night, outrebounding Chicago 45-36. That was thanks in large part to Reggie Evans, who had 16 rebounds. Evans had eight rebounds in the first quarter alone, one more than the entire Bulls team.

"I'm concerned about our rebounding, our rebounding is not good," Thibodeau said.

Bargnani shot 7 for 14 and is 14 for 26 in his past two games after going 16 for 64 in Toronto's first four exhibition contests.

Toronto finished 2 for 14 from 3-point range.

Chicago's starters finished 16 for 19 from the free throw line, with Deng going 7 for 10.

NOTES: Joakim Noah (flulike symptoms) and Kyle Korver (left ankle) did not play for Chicago. ... Raptors C David Andersen returned to the lineup after missing Sunday's win over Phoenix with a sore lower back. ... Toronto concludes its exhibition schedule with a game against New York in Montreal on Friday. The Bulls are home to Indiana on Friday in their final preseason contest.