It seems like just yesterday when the Toronto Raptors were losing a game to the Chicago Bulls, DeMar DeRozan’s young daughter was screaming from the sidelines… memories.
Turns out that was six months ago and now we’re almost into the new NBA season. The Chicago Bulls lost the next game to the Miami Heat and the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals. So really, Toronto had a chance (#delulu moment).
The Raptors face the Bulls for the first time since that game in Chicago. This is the Raptors’ third preseason game and they are currently 2-0 early in the season. They won their first game against the Sacramento Kings in Vancouver, BC and then won their second home game in Toronto against the Cairns Taipans of the Australian National Basketball League.
Chicago, on the other hand, has a five-game preseason schedule and this meeting with Toronto will be their fourth. They are 1-2 in their preseason record, unfortunately their schedule has been pretty rough. They first faced the Milwaukee Bucks and their newest player, Damian Lillard, who was taken by the Bucks.
They then faced the NBA champion Denver Nuggets, winning one and losing one. After tonight’s game against Toronto, the Bulls close out the preseason against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday.
The Raptors’ light schedule might help them tonight, but don’t expect them to push for a win. The team is very much in the “patience and process” mindset, and coach Rajakovic will surely experiment with formations again, as he did in the last two games – after all, the team is still getting used to the new “.5″ Offense” plans. All seventeen Raptors players saw the court in Sunday’s game.
We’re just over a week away from the regular season opener, and the Raptors welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves for a home game next Wednesday. Rajakovic mentioned in a recent press conference that roster decisions likely won’t begin until after they get their preseason schedule together on Friday against the Washington Wizards.
Injuries
For the Chicago Bulls, Alex Caruso,
DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Zach
LaVine are all on the day’s roster, with
their status unknown for tonight’s game.
Lonzo Ball is gone.
