Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Reaction: Bulls 88, Raptors 97

Raptors getting hot towards the end of the season again.

Chicago Bulls88Final
Recap | Box Score
97Toronto Raptors
Amir Johnson, PF 40 MIN | 10-15 FG | 3-4 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 24 PTS | +10

I’m starting to think the best play Casey drew up all year was a Rudy Gay air-ball, followed by an Amir Johnson rebound and put-back. It’s some great outside-the-box thinking on the part of Casey and it helps that Johnson beautifully executes it every time. This guy’s basically taken the latter half of this season to become the best player on the team without having a single play drawn for him. Overmatched Boozer for the most part and was too nimble for Nazr Mohammed in the paint.

Rudy Gay, SF 41 MIN | 8-19 FG | 6-8 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 5 STL | 3 BLK | 4 TO | 23 PTS | +2

Some poor shooting game as usual, but only two of his jumpers looked like aborted babies. Good stuff from Gay at times during this game, especially when he drove the ball end-to-end for a jam and stuff. Hit a key three in the fourth quarter and looked better than average.

Aaron Gray, C 21 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -13

The only reason to watch a Raptors game is Jonas Valanciunas, and with him injured, this guy was starting. Reminds me of the time I tried internet dating. Girl in the picture was bangin’, when I showed up to the restaurant, Jabba the Hutt was lying sideways on the table.

Kyle Lowry, PG 36 MIN | 4-10 FG | 5-5 FT | 9 REB | 11 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 13 PTS | +12

Pushed the tempo faster than Blake on a first date, and much like him in terms of production, was done early. I’m liking his play of late, he’s pushing the ball more (tonight was a no-brainer with Chicago’s legs and all), looking for his shot in spots, and is turning out to have games where he’s looked responsible. Nice pressure on Hinrich throughout the game.

DeMar DeRozan, SG 40 MIN | 6-10 FG | 7-8 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 19 PTS | +12

Best part about his life right now is doing the math on how much is pay cheque will increase on a bi-weekly basis. By my math, if NBA players get paid on a bi-weekly basis during the season (approximately 6 months), he’s collecting $257,250 a cheque. That sucker goes up to $730,769. This is all before taxes. Had a good shooting game including a couple sweet short fades over the shorter Hinrich (reminded me of his abuse of Ridnour). Had lots of turnovers, but so did everyone else. Got knocked in the face by Rip Hamilton, who got ejected.

Quincy Acy, SF 35 MIN | 3-5 FG | 4-6 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 3 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +21

I like Acy mostly because he does the little things. Things like putting a new toilet paper roll in when the old one finishes; or holding the door open for you even when you’re 40 feet away and not even intending to use said door; or putting the shopping cart back instead of leaving it in the handicap spot. He’s had a good season, survived the D-League, and is finding that just by playing hard you can get a decent reputation in the NBA. Played a season-high in minutes against a Bulls team that didn’t see him, or his hustle, coming. This guy can be a ninth guy on the team.

John Lucas, PG 12 MIN | 0-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -3

Was psyched to play his old team and came up with an 0-4 followed 0’s everywhere in the box score except the plus/minus, where he was minus. Right now we have two third-string PGs on the roster, and one of them needs to be driven off a cliff.

Alan Anderson, SG 14 MIN | 1-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +4

I like it when he’s benign, which can’t be said about the tumor in my eye caused by watching the Raptors all these years.

Dwane Casey

Was not given a chance to do anything silly. So he didn’t, although why Landry Fields didn’t play a single minute is confusing.

Four Things We Saw

  1. So this is the Bulls team that snapped the Heat and Knicks streaks? No, this was more like a team playing down to their competition and being basically mentally unavailable.
  2. I’d say you can add Quincy Acy as a positive this season. Obviously, it’s slim pickings but it looks like we finally have a second-round pick under Bryan Colangelo that can see the later end of an NBA roster.
  3. Pretty physical game due to the Bulls being a step slow and compensating it for throwing their weight around.
  4. Raps shot 65% in the second quarter to take control after Chicago had started off strong.