Chicago Bulls pick up third straight win over the Toronto Raptors

The Chicago Bulls picked up their third straight win on Thursday night against the Toronto Raptors, winning 122-113.

A run of wins seems to be in place for the Bulls now that their offense and rotations are filling out. Bulls fans saw a lot of positive things from their win on Thursday night.

1. Garrett Temple was the only notable player left out of the game due to injury, still dealing with his hamstring issue.
2. Head coach Billy Donovan only played nine total players. Lauri Markkanen, Troy Brown, Daniel Theis, and Coby White were the four to come off the bench.
3. The Raptors had just eight available players, who all played. Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, and Rodney Hood headlined the eight missing players.
4. The cutting offense worked extremely well for the Bulls. The team was able to put up 35 assists on the night, 16 of them coming in the first half. Zach LaVine attributed a team-high 13 assists, which is a career-high with the Bulls.
5. Post-ups continue to be a high-volume asset to their offense. Vucevic, Theis, and Markkanen all worked extremely well in the post on offense. They received many feeds inside the paint and went to work on the Raptors’ frontcourt. Vucevic embraced many double teams.
6. My last article alluded to the fact that Markkanen and White should start putting up better figures off the bench. They did just that. Markkane had 18 points and four rebounds on 80 percent shooting. White had 15 points, three rebounds, and one assist on 50 percent shooting.
7. Daniel Theis recorded his first double-double with the Bulls — recording 14 points and 10 rebounds. The bench put up 47 points from three players, shooting 19/29 from the field.
8. The offense dominated from every aspect of the field. The Bulls shot made one more shot from distance than the Raptors, shooting 40 percent from downtown. They also dominated in the paint, winning that battle 64-56 in points in the paint.
9. LaVine and Nikola Vucevic worked plenty off each other on the pick-and-roll. LaVine ended the night with 22 points, shooting 50 percent from the field, and tacking 13 assists. Vucevic also put in 22, making 9/19 field goals and adding seven rebounds and four assists.
10. Brown showed excellent flashes of strong defense, guarding OG Anunoby in the second half of the game. He even posted one block on him.
11. Chris Boucher was unstoppable from all over the floor. He put up a whopping 38 points, shooting 58.3 percent from the field.
12. The Bulls’ struggles to close games still haunt them, even with an injured and rebuilding Raptors team. The Raptors were able to cut their once 22-point lead down to seven in the fourth quarter. The Bulls turned the ball over 11 times in the second half.
13. LaVine scored the Bulls’ last five of seven points, scoring a driving layup and a contested three-point shot to put the nail in the coffin. His will-to-win is unmatched and the need for his clutch factor is still dramatically high.
14. The Bulls forced the Raptors to miss three straight shots during the Raptors’ comeback in the fourth quarter. While the Bulls let their foot up off the gas for a moment, they regained and took over.
15. The Raptors are now three games behind the Bulls, leaving the Bulls a comfortable spot in 10th place in the Eastern Conference — enough for them to see a play-in tournament spot.

The Bulls will travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks on Friday night. The Hawks are fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and have won four of their last five games. Clint Capela and Danilo Gallinari and are questionable for the game. John Collins appears to be out.