Toronto @ Chicago preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 7, 2017 ) Chicago 114, Toronto 119

The Chicago Bulls are dealing with expectations for the first time this season and are starting to have some trouble closing out tight games. The Bulls will try to avoid a three-game losing streak for the first time since Nikola Mirotic returned when they host DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.

Chicago won 10 of 12 games following Mirotic's return from facial fractures but dropped the next two at Washington and home against Portland by a total of eight points after squandering leads late in each of the setbacks. "It's tough, it hurts," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters. "When you do have some success closing out close games, the last two nights we haven't done it. We have not gotten the job done. It hurts, it stings. Especially after having seven in a row where we did close out a lot of those close games. We've got to learn throughout the season, throughout these close games." Chicago will have to find a way on Wednesday to close out against DeRozan, who set a Toronto franchise record with 52 points in an overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. "He was playing with a lot of juice, oomph," Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters of DeRozan. "You could see the bounce in his step in the first quarter, the force he was playing with coming off pick-and-rolls, bouncing up, and he maintained that throughout the whole game, which was huge for him."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One (Toronto), NBCS Chicago

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (25-10): DeRozan broke the previous team record of 51 points shared by Vince Carter and Terrence Ross while going 17-of-29 from the floor and 13-of-13 from the line, and he also handed out a team-high eight assists in the 131-127 win over the Bucks. "You really can't tell because you don't pay attention to it," DeRozan told reporters. "You look up, going to halftime, you may glance at it and say 'Damn, I got X amount of points.' You just feed off of that and understand it's nothing but aggressiveness and going out there and wanting to win." DeRozan is 27-of-47 from the floor in back-to-back wins after going 7-of-32, including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc, in road losses at Dallas and Oklahoma City last week.

ABOUT THE BULLS (13-24): Mirotic's return was the spark that led to Chicago's recent run of strong play, but it wasn't the only factor. Second-year point guard Kris Dunn is averaging 15.8 points and 8.1 assists over his last 13 games and scored 22 points in Monday's 124-120 overtime loss to the Trail Blazers. "We're clicking right now," Dunn told reporters. "We're playing good basketball. These two losses, they definitely hurt. When they're down the stretch, and you feel like you can win the games, it's hard to swallow. But we're playing good basketball, and I like what we're doing so far."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Raptors PF Serge Ibaka is 2-of-16 from 3-point range over his last five games.

2. Bulls PG Zach LaVine (knee) is practicing with the team and could make his season debut sometime next week.

3. Toronto took each of the first two meetings this season -- both at home -- but lost in each of its two trips to Chicago last season.

PREDICTION: Bulls 115, Raptors 112