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Bulls pay a visit to Raptors

Mar 21, 2012 - 2:48 PM (Sports Network) - The Chicago Bulls will take the NBA's best record north of the border tonight searching for a sixth straight road victory when they square off with the Toronto Raptors.

Chicago is not only a gaudy 38-10 overall, it improved to 10-4 on the season without reigning MVP Derrick Rose by using a torturous defense to stymie Dwight Howard and the Magic during a 85-59 rout in Orlando on Monday. Little- used John Lucas scored 20 points to help lead the Bulls in that one.

Chicago, playing without Rose for the fourth consecutive game due to a strained groin, got a big night from Carlos Boozer. He recorded a double- double with 24 points and 13 rebounds and Luol Deng added 14 points to help the Bulls secure their NBA-best 19th road win of the season.

"It just shows how deep we are, how deep our bench is," Lucas said.

The 59 points allowed by the Bulls marks a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a regular season game and Chicago improved to 20-0 when holding teams below 90 points.

Rose has dealt with a number of nagging injuries this season and is likely to sit out another one tonight as the Bulls, who lead Miami by 2 1/2 games for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, try to get their superstar right for the looming postseason.

"I haven't been able to run," Rose told the Bulls' website when talking about his latest injury. "The biggest thing is just staying strong mentally. We're playing good right now. It's definitely hurting me, but I'm keeping a positive attitude."

The Raptors, meanwhile, have lost two straight and three of four overall after getting routed in New York, 106-87, on Tuesday.

DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points to lead Toronto and Jose Calderon chipped in 11 points and nine assists in his first came back after missing the previous five with a sprained right ankle as the Raptors finished a five-game road trip at 2-3.

Calderon's backup, Jerryd Bayless, went down with a left hip pointer in the second half, however. Bayless, who averaged 21.8 points while starting in place of Calderon, had seven points and four assists before exiting and his status for tonight's game is unknown.

"The Garden was a hot building tonight and they played it, so my hat goes off to them," said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. "We had it in a manageable game until we just had a stretch where we had three straight turnovers and they cashed in on them."

Chicago has won five of the past six games in this series, including a 77-64 win in the Windy City back on Jan. 14.

These two teams will meet again on Saturday in Chi-town.