2016 is off to a good start for the Toronto Raptors. They’re 1-0, with their sole game and victory coming against one of their bogey-teams – the Charlotte Bobcats. This afternoon, in a 3:30 pm match-up at the Air Canada Center, the Raptors take on another bogey-team in the Chicago Bulls – a team they haven’t beaten in their last six attempts.
In their most recent match-up just before the New Year, the Bulls got huge contributions from Tony Snell and Derrick Rose, who hit big shots from the perimeter against the Raptors. The latter even showed his vintage self, getting to the rim and finishing in traffic. It was a game where the Raptors were on the verge of victory, riding the back of Kyle Lowry’s scorching 28 points on 9/15 shooting, but there was little contribution from anyone else, and the Raptors labored to score, particularly when they went to their 2nd unit – all oh whom had a negative net rating.
But the good news is this: the Raptors’ bench is in much better form now. Patrick Patterson and Terrence Ross are both playing well offensively, and Bismack Biyombo provides some crazy-good energy off the bench, which should be particularly helpful against the Bulls who rebound the ball better than anyone in the league.
The Bulls are interesting this year. Clearly they’re good. On paper they arguably should be better than they are, but they’re one of those teams that can beat anyone on their night despite the off-court distractions.
This is actually a terrific opportunity to pounce on the Bulls because of their health issues. Derrick Rose is highly doubtful to play this game, while Jimmy Butler is playing through a thigh injury. Meanwhile, the Raptors are almost at full strength.
Kyle Lowry’s ankle tweak against the Hornets on Friday turns out to be nothing serious.
The one concern the Raptors have though, is DeMarre Carroll, who is still under minute restriction, playing no more than 25 minutes per game until he can regain his health and feel 100%. He’s just not quite there yet.
“It’s not the best I’ve felt but I just told myself if I’m gonna get out there I might as well just play through it,” Carroll said.
“I think I’ve been playing a little timid, scared of re-hurting something so I told myself when I get out there, just play. As long as I’m going to be out there I might as well just play as hard as I can and if something happens, it happens.”
Carroll may not be at his peak, but he’s progressively improved since returning to the rotation. Despite his health concerns, he’s been the Raptors’ best perimeter defender since his return, and his offense is slowly finding its rhythm.
The effects that a win would have today would be huge for the Raptors. Dwane Casey has been downplaying the issue of Chicago having Toronto’s number in the past six match-ups, but finally being able to grab a W against the Bulls would be a huge monkey off the back, and provides some kind of boost in the hunt for separation from their Eastern Conference rivals. The East is just better this season, and the sample size is large enough to prove it. And while many would argue the regular season standings are somewhat irrelevant in the grand scheme of things (a 2nd round playoff berth is clearly the main target), winning is winning – a key to success. A win today would put the Raptors just 1.5 games back of Cleveland for the first seed.
The key match-up tonight is Jimmy Butler vs DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan, historically, has struggled against the Bulls who play elite defense all-around. Jimmy Butler has been a tough guard for him, and even when he gets past the Butler-wall, the Bulls are quick to help, and they also defend the rim well. But credit to DeMar, who somewhat broke the ice against the Bulls in their last match-up and thoroughly outplayed Butler holding him to just 5 points on 2/7 shooting. Meanwhile, DeRozan fought his way to the free-throw line and shot 50% from the field en route to 19 points. With Rose out, the DeMar – Butler match-up is huge. If the Raptors win that again, they’re nearly in the clear.
Lowry will go up against Hinrich and surely the Raptors have the advantage here. Lowry is still – relatively – struggling with his offense if we take into consideration the last couple games, but let’s nor forget it was just six days ago where he went off against the Bulls on 60% shooting while dishing out nine dimes.
With the Raptors turning a corner and getting off to a solid start in 2016 – coupled with the Bulls’ health concerns – I’m calling a W here. It’s due.
