The Toronto Raptors were playing their third set of consecutive games just three weeks into the NBA season and were looking on Monday for their first sweep after splitting two games on the road against Miami and at home against Philadelphia.
Whether it’s between-games adjustments or just – as Raptors head coach Nick Nurse put it last week before the Raptors came out flat in their second game against a short-handed Sixers team after thumping their full squad in the first meeting – human nature that the losing team tries a little harder in the rematch, honestly, who knows.
Toronto has five more two-game sets – the second-most in the league – so the team might want to try to figure something out. Regardless, the Raptors were hoping Monday to avoid reverting to form against the Chicago Bulls and win two games in a row for the third time this season.
But for the third time in three instances, the team that lost the first game of the two turned around and won the second as the Chicago Bulls did with a 111-97 win on Monday that was never really in doubt. Toronto got off to a fast early start but the Bulls surged back and won the first, second and third quarters and maintained a double-digit lead for the entire fourth.
The Raptors shot 42.4 per cent from the floor and 9-of-28 from deep, and while they forced the Bulls into 21 turnovers, Toronto lost the offensive rebound battle 9-5 after hauling in 23. The Bulls shot 52 per cent from the floor and were also 9-of-28 from the floor.
All in all, a disappointing effort from the Raptors, who had no handy excuses other than Pascal Siakam being out for the second game with a groin strain. Both teams were playing on short rest, flying in the night before and having played a load of games already this season. The Bulls play better tired, apparently.
The Raptors fell to 6-5, the Bulls improved to 6-6.
TAKEAWAYS
How would VanVleet look on Night 2? Pretty good …
Against Chicago on Sunday, VanVleet had his best game of the season and counted at least 30 points and 10-plus assists for the just the second time in his career, but he played 39 minutes and you had to wonder if he would be fit to go, given he missed the previous three games because of back tightness brought on by – one could wonder – his heavy minutes load to start the season.
But there was no concern after his Sunday night explosion and VanVleet looked none the worse for wear on Monday. With his close ties to his hometown of Rockford – about 90 minutes west of the Windy City – VanVleet has always valued games at the United Center.
VanVleet got the Raptors rolling with an early assist on a Christian Kololo lay-up, converted a fast break off an O.G. Anunoby steal and then banged down a trio of early threes.
The Raptors are deep and have their share of ball-handlers, so VanVleet’s usage rate has been down this season – 17.7 per cent compared to 23.7 and 23.9 the last two years, as he was making the transition from supporting actor to All-Star. But VanVleet has clearly been making room for others this season. With Siakam (groin) out, VanVleet’s 26.3 per cent usage rate Sunday was the highest of the season. His highest before that – 25.2 – came in a win against the Miami Heat when Scottie Barnes was injured.
But the Bulls weren’t having it. After watching VanVleet torch them on Sunday and come out smoking in the first quarter Monday, they turned off his water as rangy, athletic second-year guard Ayo Dosunmu picked up VanVleet for the length of the court, forcing him to work for every inch of floor, and often seeing a second defender when he did get to the half court. VanVleet was scoreless in the second quarter but shook loose for 16 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, but he couldn’t drag Toronto back into the game.
No other Raptor looked very good at all
Paging Scottie Barnes? Gary Trent Jr.? Precious Achiuwa? Anyone? Keep this game in mind, people get carried away with the notion that there is a list of players on this team ready to eat up the shots, minutes and spotlight occupied by VanVleet or Siakam.
With a star player out and more shots and touches available to go around a lineup filled with players either looking to grow their offensive profile of just get a chance to show they deserve any kind of opportunity at all, the Raptors' visit to Chicago proved to be a huge dud. VanVleet played well, but after that? No-shows.
We’ll cut Anunoby some slack because he at least held up his end of the bargain defensively as he filled a big part of the game plan to make Toronto get beat by anyone but DeRozan as he helped hold DeRozan to 18 points on a total of 15 shots over the two games (nine on six shots Monday night).
Anunoby continued as a one-man turnover machine, adding three more steals to his league-leading total. But after that? Barnes didn’t score his first field goal until his ferocious dunk late in the second quarter. He was 1-for-7 then and finished with five points on 2-of-9 shooting. Trent Jr. (19 points) played to his average, nothing more; Achiuwa was not a factor and Boucher was a non-factor off the bench as the Bulls reserves outscored Toronto 32-18 heading into the third quarter.
The Zach LaVine effect
When the Raptors sent a steady stream of doubles at DeRozan Sunday night, they could do it with some confidence in part because LaVine, Chicago's second-leading scorer, was back home resting his surgically repaired knee. But Monday night was a different story. DeRozan didn’t have to force anything to generate offence – he had only two turnovers, compared to five the other night – and simply got off the ball when a second defender started heading his way. More often than not, the ball would find its way to LaVine’s hands and – as usual – he didn’t miss much as the LaVine put up 30 points and five assists on 11-of-20 shooting.
Christian Koloko has been an impressive rookie, but he’s still a rookie
It’s unfair to expect an even performance night in and night out from a player not even a month into his career – and following up a career outing is never easy. But Koloko certainly struggled as a starter on the second night of a back-to-back.
He was a step slow in the first half – he was 1-of-4 with three fouls, a turnover and no blocks coming off his 11 points, seven rebounds and six blocks in 31 minutes on Sunday. It didn’t get much better after that as he air-balled from three feet on his first touch of the second half and then was called for a moving screen a short time later.
Midway through the fourth quarter, as the Raptors were finally showing signs of making a run, Koloko failed to finish a lob from VanVleet and couldn’t make the rebound count either. It’s all part of the process for the 33rd-overall pick. It’s nights like that it would be nice for Nurse to be able to turn to a healthy Khem Birch as an option, but Birch remains out with a troublesome left knee – it was his right knee that required off-season knee surgery – and so Koloko has to keep learning on the job.
Don’t count your chickens but …
The bright side? The Raptors have had a challenging schedule to start the season – their visit to San Antonio was their only outing against a team that either wasn’t in the playoffs last season or was projected to be in there this season – and hey, the rebuilding Spurs are .500, though the Raptors caught San Antonio short a pair of starters in what ended up a blowout win for Toronto.
All of that to say the schedule has finally turned a little bit. The Raptors come home to host the Houston Rockets (2-9 after a win over Orlando Monday) before hitting the road for starts against Oklahoma City, Indiana and Detroit.
Each are young teams with scintillating talent, but none are projected to be competing for a playoff spot, quite the opposite as all four clubs are considered to be more likely to be positioning for one of the top spots in the draft lottery and a shot at either Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson, the likely top two picks in a draft class top heavy with talent.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course, and consistency hasn’t exactly been the trademark of the Raptors so far, but if they’re looking for some runway to get on a roll, they’re about to get one.
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