Not only do the Toronto Raptors need to take care of business in a road matchup with the Boston Celtics and a home date with the Milwaukee Bucks to move up to the No. 8 seed in the play-in tournament, but they also need the Atlanta Hawks to lose one of their final two games. If this doesn’t happen, Toronto will face off against the Chicago Bulls in the 9-10 matchup.
The Raptors have beaten the sub-.500 Bulls twice in three tries this season, but Chicago has a good deal of firepower that Toronto needs to be very wary of in a win-or-go-home scenario. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan are often good enough to win games by themselves.
Toronto may not have the best vibes right now, as rumors of a Nick Nurse departure continue to swirl and the squad has shown some serious cracks that will be exploited by savvy teams. That doesn’t mean that fans should assume the season will come to an end in the play-in.
The Raptors have several factors working in their favor in this game, all of which could lead to them actually having a leg up if (read: when) they are matched up against the Bulls. Toronto should be cautiously optimistic about its chances when facing Chicago.
3 reasons the Toronto Raptors can beat the Bulls.
3. Shooting
Surely this must be a typo, right? Toronto’s lack of shooting and inconsistency has been pitiful this season, but the Bulls aren’t exactly the mid-2010s Warriors from beyond the arc. This cancels out Toronto’s biggest weakness, making them a bit more viable in such a high-stakes scenario.
The Bulls are a mediocre shooting team, ranking 15th in efficiency. However, they are dead last in the NBA in 3-pointers attempted and 3-pointers made. LaVine is the only player on the Bulls who attempts more than five 3-pointers per game (the Raptors have three such players).
The Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls aren’t good shooting teams.
While Jakob Poeltl didn’t have his best night ever in his first game against Nikola Vucevic in Raptors colors, Toronto will likely be much happier with a sluggish, methodical game that features tons of shots at the rim for Poieltl to contest than a shootout where whoever goes cold first will end up losing.
Toronto’s preferred style of basketball may not be very sexy to watch, but it can get the job done when executed properly. Chicago wants to play a similar style of ball, but they lack the excess length and assortment of scorers that can all go for 15 points or more every night.