Gameday: Raptors @ Bulls, Oct. 26

Coming off of a disappointing loss to the Celtics – one in which Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry both played 40 minutes – the Raptors scurried into a plane and set off for Chicago. All in preparation for a back-to-back against the Bulls, and their intriguing, young core.

Luckily for the Raptors, the Bulls don’t play a brand of basketball similar to the Celtics whatsoever, and are coming off of a game last night themselves. The grimy and physical tactics of the Celtics, will be traded in for the speed and finesse of the Bulls. The Raptors are usually happy to play at a fast pace, so this might be a welcome matchup. This is the first test of the champs resolve this season as they look to avoid a losing streak.

These two teams did play during the preseason, but there’s nothing to be gleaned from that game, really. Lavine showed a level of comfort in the pick n’ roll that hadn’t been seen before, but that’s about it. The Bulls have tons to like about their start to the season. Yes, they lost to the Hornets, but the Hornets hit an insane amount of triples (franchise record) in a display that they won’t recreate in a long time. Standout performances from Lavine, Coby White, and Lauri Markkanen have offered up plenty of highlights and conjecture for Bulls fans.

It could be interesting to see how Nick Nurse opts to alter the starting lineup of the Raptors. On the one hand, Serge Ibaka has made a clear-cut case to take the starting role from Marc Gasol. On the other, Nurse might opt to put Norman Powell into the starting line-up in place of Fred VanVleet. The reasoning with Powell/VanVleet would be that Powell profiles as a better defender for Lavine, and on the night of a back-to-back, having VanVleet come off the bench could be a good way to keep his minutes down after he logged over 40 in the Celtics game.

The third point guard conundrum is already having pretty big implications in the Raptors rotation so far. It’s clear that VanVleet is starting caliber, and Lowry is an All-Star, but Nurse is still working through how best to deploy them.

Pascal Siakam figures to have another explosive game in this one, as the Bulls don’t have a player with Jaylen Brown’s tenacity, or Brandon Ingram’s length to throw at Siakam for the bulk of his possessions. Wendell Carter Jr. figures to be a big part of raising the Bulls defensive ceiling going forward, but he’s not plugging all the holes just yet.

After a really solid game as the starting lineups “glue guy” OG Anunoby gets an opportunity to flash a larger offensive arsenal against this Bulls team. There were promising progressions when it came to how he was operating as the focal point of the Raptors offense against this very same Bulls starting line-up, in pre-season. So far this season he’s been really quiet, but effective on offense, and a standout defensively.

The Bulls are laden with talent, but the Raptors definitely have the better squad. This is a good opportunity for the Raptors to bounce back, and for players who haven’t yet gotten their feel on the offensive end going, to inject some pace and easy shots into their game.