The Chicago Bulls lost to the Toronto Raptors 122-98 on Wednesday in the United Center. It’s time to check out my one like and dislike from the game.
The Chicago Bulls lost to the Toronto Raptors 122-98 on Wednesday in the United Center. The game marked the return of guard Kris Dunn after missing 11 games due to a concussion he suffered during the Bulls’ Jan. 17 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Tank-o-meter:
The Chicago Bulls’ record is 20-37 after the win. They head into the All-Star break with the eighth-worst record in the league and are three games back of the worst record in the association.
Fun Fact #1:
The Chicago Bulls made four of their 24 3-point attempts. It’s the first time they made four or less 3-pointers in a regular season game since their Feb. 8, 2017 contest against the Golden State Warriors.
Fun Fact #2:
Coincidentally, the Chicago Bulls played the Toronto Raptors on Valentine’s Day last season and beat them 105-94.
Dislike: Allowing the non-stars to win the game
Raptors guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry struggled in the early parts of the game. They combined for five points in the first quarter on 2-of-7 shooting. The All-Star guards stumbled into 10 points on a combined 4-of-11 shooting at halftime.
Despite their struggles, the Chicago Bulls trailed the Raptors by 12 points at halftime. The Bulls didn’t have an answer for the big man trio of forward Serge Ibaka, center Jonas Valanciunas and forward Pascal Siakam. The trio combined for 36 points on 17-of-21 shooting at the midway point of the contest. They finished the game with 51 points on 23-of-30 shooting.
Lowry picked up his play as the game continued. He scored 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, made two of his three 3-point shots and made all six of his free-throw attempts in the third quarter. But, the game was out of the Bulls’ control at that point since the role players did the brunt of the work.
The Raptors had three bench players who tallied double-digits and points. Everyone who received playing time for Toronto made at least one field goal. The Raptors deserves credit for modifying their offensive system in a manner which is less dependent on their star players to carry them to victory. However, the Bulls can’t be proud of how they competed.
“Poor effort,” said Head Coach Fred Hoiberg, according to a Feb. 14 ESPN article. “I talked to the guys, win or lose you got to walk in the locker room after the game and look each other in the eye and say you were the harder playing team. We were not tonight.”
The team needs to consistently play with more effort and energy in the last half of the season.
Like: Good start
There wasn’t a lot to like about this game. I’m glad forward Noah Vonleh received playing time. Although his role on the team going forward is unclear, the Bulls should consistently feature him in the rotation to gain a clear understanding of what he can bring to the team.
Even though the game resulted in a blowout, the way the Chicago Bulls started the game was encouraging. They tallied 33 points and outscored the Raptors by six in the first quarter. Dunn made his first shot of the game, it looked like guard Zach LaVine was going to get rolling and forward Lauri Markkanen made his presence known even with Dunn and LaVine on the court.
But, in a game like this, there’s pessimism hidden in the positivity.
The Chicago Bulls start to the game wasn’t sustainable. They weren’t going to shoot 58 percent from the field and 43 percent from beyond the arc for the remainder of the game like they did in the opening quarter. Although they had the lead, it was clear the Bulls lacked effort on the defensive end. They didn’t take advantage of the slow start by the Raptors All-Star guards.
It’ll be interesting to see how well Hoiberg is able to connect with his team over the last third of the season.