(Tampa) Nikola Vucevic and Zach Levine had 22 points each and the Chicago Bulls defeated the Toronto Raptors 122-113 on Thursday.

With this third win in a row, the Bulls left the Raptors even further behind in the race for 10 ^th , a gateway to the chance to advance to the playoffs.

Toronto's backlog has dropped to three games.

LaVine also had 13 assists, while Lauri Markkanen had 18 points.

The slide of the Raptors (20-32) continues, they who have won only three times in their last 18 games.

Montrealer Chris Boucher set a personal high with 38 points, in addition to grabbing 19 rebounds.

Pascal Siakam collected 27 points for Nick Nurse's group.

The Raptors' best moments were the opening 5:04 of the game, where the club took a 16-7 lead. Things quickly deteriorated thereafter.

Bored in his right foot, Kyle Lowry was absent for a fifth straight game.

Injured to the left hip, Fred VanVleet missed a third consecutive game.

Paul Watson was on the sidelines in a seventh straight game, in connection with league protocols during the pandemic.

Toronto will replay Saturday night in Cleveland.