Toronto finds out nothing is free, losing to the Bulls and Zach LaVine

TORONTO – As this line is being read, there’s a good chance that a Toronto Raptors player has missed another free throw.

This line? Clank! Likely another one.

And Zach LaVine took advantage of every single one of them.

Thanks to the Raptors removing the “free” from free throw line by shooting an improbable 18-of-36 from the stripe, as well as LaVine having one of his most meaningful performances by scoring 39 points, the Bulls advanced to the second-round play-in game, heading to Miami on Friday with the 109-105 win.

All that’s at stake is another win-or-go-home showdown, but this time with a very familiar face in former Bull Jimmy Butler awaiting them. The winner of the now No. 10 vs. No. 7 game wins the No. 8 spot, and the right to take on top-seeded Milwaukee in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Some prize.

Considering where the Bulls were at halftime at the Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday, they’ll take it.

“I’ll let you all decide that,’’ LaVine said, when asked if he felt like this was his first memorable big-game Bulls performance. “I just wanted to win the game. If I had zero points or 40, I just wanted to help us win the game. Move onto the next one and see what we can do from there.’’

As for the free throw misses, no Bull was complaining about that.

“I mean it’s a one-and-done game,’’ LaVine said. “Obviously you want to give yourself the best chance. I’m happy they missed a lot of them, but we stepped in and made ours, so I’m happy about that.’’

LaVine sure did, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

“Amazing,’’ teammate DeMar DeRozan said of LaVine’s 30-point second half. “He carried us, he put his will on the game and we all followed behind that, offensively and defensively. That why he is who he is.’’

But there was a key weapon for the Bulls off the court.

DeRozan’s daughter, Diar, went viral early on in the game, sitting courtside and screaming at the top of her lungs every time a Raptor was at the free throw line.

By the end of the game, the 9-year-old could have easily been named co-MVP of the comeback win.

“It’s crazy, my daughter called me the other day when she was getting out of school and she just said, ‘Dad, can I come to the Toronto game?’ ‘’ DeRozan, who played nine years in Toronto, said. “I almost said no because she’s in school back home. She was adamant about coming. I just said, ‘You can miss one day of school for support.’ I’m glad I did.’’

He wasn’t alone, and now the Bulls have another game on the schedule.

“I give them a lot of credit,’’ coach Billy Donovan said of the win. “Getting down like that and having the toughness to continue to fight and get back into the game.’’

There it was against the Raptors, down as much as 19 points in the third quarter, but sticking with it with each missed free throw by the home team.

By the time Alex Caruso hit a corner three with 6:26 left, the game was tied, the hole climbed out of, and the Raptors looked cooked.

Evidence of that was in a fourth quarter in which they shot 5-of-10 from the free throw line.

Fred VanVleet tied the game up with 3:11 left, but it was the last time the Bulls didn’t trail, thanks to back-to-back baskets by LaVine and DeRozan.

Toronto’s last gasp came with 12 seconds left, as Pascal Siakam was fouled on a three-point attempt, trailing by three. He made the first, and of course missed the next two.

Now it’s off to Miami, but down one key figure. DeRozan was asked if Diar would be heading down to South Beach.

“Nah,’’ he replied. “She gotta go back to school.’’