So, the Chicago Bulls finally had a “test” last night by facing the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors are a solid team but by no means a team they once were; no longer having players like Leonard, Derozan & Kyle Lowry, they sort of went into a rebuilding phase. They do have potential with players like Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr & their recent first round pick, Scottie Barnes. They play tough basketball with good defense & good ball movement; a relatively longer and taller basketball team compared to most in the NBA. I expected rebounding to be an issue but as seen in the past few games, the team has a collective effort. With Demar returning to face the team that originally drafted him, most expected him to have a good game. The Chicago Bulls also had not won a game in Toronto since 2017, a pretty crazy stat. I expected a relatively easy win—that was not the case.
The Bulls for the fourth game in a row, started off pretty slow. They tried to get Vooch going early but he’s just not hitting shots; he’s missing from the restricted area & the low block. Reports said that Vooch was feeling ill & he definitely looked it out there. He seemed slow & lazy on defense while most of field goals attempts on the offensive side were falling short. It was another game where Zach couldn’t get it going in the first quarter as well but luckily this is no longer last year's team—we have Derozan. He’s become very consistent & is always taking the pressure off Zach. He’s seeming to be the perfect compliment. Patrick Williams is looking a little off to me as well; as the starting PF who played 26 minutes, he had no rebounds. He also seems to hesitate a lot on open jumpers. Someone from the staff or the team has to talk to him to get him going. Zo was hitting his threes & playing excellent defense—playing as advertised.
The offense & defense flowed well throughout most of the game, until halfway through the third quarter. The Bulls were up by twenty & seemed to just take their foot off the gas, make boneheaded turnovers & play lazy defense. Toronto recognized this and used their energy & athleticism to cut the lead back down. Ball movement became stagnant leading to bad shots & careless mistakes. The bench lacking offense is an issue that will be addressed but also improved after the return of Coby White. The Bulls looked extremely unprepared to close out the game & in my opinion, lost composure as soon as the game got to within 7 points. Billy Donovan should’ve have called a timeout a little earlier when the Raptors went on a run. Zo & Caruso had very uncharacteristic turnovers in the clutch causing the game to be a lot closer than it should’ve been. DDR had a couple tough buckets to bring us back up six points but a couple terrible turnovers allowed the Raptors to once again, claw their way back in. It was a hideous second half & the team knew it. If this was last year's team, this would’ve been a loss; this year is a team of known winners or winners' mentality & they displayed that last night.
A win is a win, as an upset Zach Lavine said in his post-game interview but a great learning experience for the team. Going back & watching film to learn what went wrong is crucial as the Bulls play their next 14 games against playoff teams—the true test. The Chicago Bulls have to learn to get going early, not to take their foot off the gas & recognize who should close out their games; I’m not saying there has to be one specific closer, but each game will have its own respective closer. The Chicago Bulls won their first game in Toronto since 2017 & have started their season with a 4-0 start—the first time since the 96-97 season. The Chicago Bulls take on Julius Randle & the New York Knicks on Thursday night in Chicago. Stay hype, Bulls fans!
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