Chicago @ Toronto preview
Scotiabank Arena
Last Meeting ( Jan 30, 2024 ) Toronto 118, Chicago 107
The Chicago Bulls want to bring the effort and energy they showed on Friday against the Charlotte Hornets when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Monday night.
‘‘We can do it,'' said Bulls guard Lonzo Ball. who had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench in the 109-95 home win over Charlotte.
‘‘We're capable," Ball told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We see it on film for spurts. It's just about putting it together for a whole game."
The Bulls' only letdown against Charlotte came early in the third quarter.
‘‘The stamina and the consistency -- and I'm nitpicking (because) our guys played hard and competed -- but if you're looking at that consistency part of it, that was a big part in that third quarter," Chicago coach Billy Donovan said. "We've got to be able to do it for longer stretches."
The Raptors, meanwhile, have lost four in a row as they continue to deal with injuries. Scottie Barnes, who missed 11 games with an orbital fracture earlier this season, suffered a sprained ankle during a home loss to the New York Knicks last Monday. Per SI.com, Barnes was out of his walking boot at practice on Sunday.
Barnes' absence was noticeable in a 114-104 road loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday.
"There is a need for somebody else to step up," Toronto coach Darko Rajakovic said. "And step up does not mean necessarily taking more shots, taking more on your shoulders. It's just being even more locked in and doing small things. ... There is a need for a whole team to step up."
RJ Barrett had his second triple-double of the season and his career (13 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) on Thursday but finished 5-for-18 shooting from the field. Gradey Dick scored 22 points, with 12 coming in the first quarter when Toronto took a 27-23 lead. Jakob Poeltl, who did not start due to back spasms, came off the bench and scored 16 points.
Toronto led 41-25 with 8:38 to play in the second quarter before Miami took over.
With Immanuel Quickley (elbow) still out, the Raptors having a full core roster won't happen soon, but Rajakovic looks forward to it.
"It would be awesome," he said. "We have not had our core guys and main guys in their roles pretty much all season. And what it does at the same time, it's not allowing us to look (at) what our bench would look like when we have those guys in their roles.
"I'm staying hopeful that sooner than later we have this situation to look at our full roster, what it looks like. And I think it's going to be great for guys to get the chemistry of playing together, (growing) together and give us a lot of answers."
The Bulls got forward Patrick Williams (foot) back on Friday from a 10-game absence. He scored four points on 1-for-7 shooting from the field in 14 minutes.
"He's going to have to find it back," Donovan said. "It's been 10 games since he last played. I didn't have that high of an expectation of (him returning to) where he left off. It's going to take him some time with the timing and rhythm, but I liked his aggressiveness."
Zach LaVine (back), who leads the Bulls in scoring at 21.7 ppg, is questionable. Nikola Vucevic (illness), who averages 21.0 points and a team-leading 9.8 rebounds per game, did not play Friday and is probable for Monday.
The Bulls have made at least 10-pointers in 26 consecutive games, the longest streak in team history.
--Field Level Media