The Toronto Raptors begin the first night of a back-to-back against the Chicago Bulls at home.
The Raptors came up short by one point against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. After Pascal Siakam left the game near the end of the third quarter, the young guns showed up and fought back fiercely. Although they fell short, it gives Raptors fans something to be optimistic about while Siakam’s injury timeline continues to be unknown.
Raptors: With Siakam leaving the game, Scottie Barnes became the Raptors primary facilitator. After being scoreless for the majority of the game, he scored for the first time in the final seconds of the third quarter and ended his night with 11 points. He also earned his first triple-double in his career and became the youngest player in franchise history to do so. The future face of the franchise.
This is the first of many triple-doubles to come for Scottie.
O.G. Anunoby came up huge on both ends of the floor. He ended the night with 27 points (4 threes) and played well defensively, ending up with 5 steals. O.G. has stolen the ball over 20 times in the past 5 games.
In a scenario where Siakam and Fred VanVleet are both out, it will give Scottie, O.G., Gary Trent Jr, and the rest of the bench the spotlight to shine. Times like these are a valuable opportunity to show what this team is made out of.
Bulls: Playing against DeMar DeRozan will always be a game to look forward to. The Bulls are coming off a loss against the Boston Celtics after a 46-point performance by DeRozan and look to bounce back. The main players to look out for would be the Bulls trio of DeRozan, Zach Lavine, and Nikola Vucevic with Ayo Dosunmu starting to heat up too after taking over the point guard position.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 6:00pm EDT | TV: SN1
Raptors lineup
Fred VanVleet (lower back stiffness) is questionable. Khem Birch is questionable (right-knee soreness). Pascal Siakam is questionable (strained right groin).
Update: VanVleet will play, and Siakam is out (for at least two weeks). Birch is also out.
PG: Fred VanVleet, Dalano Banton, Malachi Flynn
SG: Gary Trent Jr.
SF: O.G. Anunoby, Otto Porter Jr, Thaddeus Young, Justin Champagnie
PF: Scottie Barnes, Chris Boucher, Juancho Hernangomez
C: Christian Koloko, Precious Achiuwa
Bulls lineup
Lonzo Ball is out. The timeline of return is unknown.
PG: Goran Dragic, Coby White, Carlik Jones
SG: Zach Lavine, Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu, Dalen Terry
SF: DeMar DeRozan, Javonte Green, Derrick Jones Jr., Malcolm Hill
PF: Patrick Williams, Kostas Antetokounmpo
C: Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond, Marko Simonovic
Upcoming Regular Season Schedule
Monday, Nov 7, Raptors @ Bulls
Wednesday, Nov 9, Rockets @ Raptors
