Daily Bulls

The Chicago Bulls will go on the road for the first time this preseason to take on the Toronto Raptors. Toronto is coming off a 116-100 loss to the Houston Rockets and has a 2-1 preseason record. Chicago got their first preseason win on Friday against the Denver Nuggets, 131-113. Last season, the Bulls won three out of the four matchups, with their only loss happening on February 3rd, 127-120.

Matchup to Watch For

Scottie Barnes vs DeMar DeRozan

DeRozan will return to Toronto, where he played his first nine seasons in the NBA. He has the most points in Toronto Raptors history with 13,296 points. But DeMar DeRozan will get his first test against 2021-22 Rookie of the Year and the future star of the Raptors, Scottie Barnes.

Among rookies, he was top five in steals (1.1 Steals) and blocks (0.7). But Barnes has struggled so far during the preseason and has not scored in double-digits. On Friday against Houston, Barnes scored two points and didn’t make a shot. Barnes has what it takes to stop DeRozan, but will he stop the King of the Mid-Range Sunday afternoon?

Keys to the Game

Get Zach Lavine going

Zach Lavine has made it clear he is 100% ready but has not been efficient on offense so far in the preseason. Lavine didn’t play with the starters in the second half of the first preseason game. In preseason game two, Lavine struggled with seven points, shooting 3-for-8 from the field. But he got his teammates involved with six assists.

Expect a bounce-back game for Lavine when the Bulls head north to take on the Raptors. Last season, when Chicago lost their only game of the season against Toronto, Lavine scored only 15 points in 42 minutes.

Interior Defense

One of the most significant strengths of the Toronto Raptors is their ability to score whenever they want to in the paint. Toronto has scored at least 50 points in the paint in all three preseason games. That includes when they put up 70 points in the paint in a 125-119 win over the Celtics. You won’t win many games during the NBA season if you can’t defend the paint.

These matchups are why Andre Drummond got signed for a two-year deal, and Nikola Vucevic will get tested early and often in the paint. Last season, Chicago struggled big time to defend the paint against Toronto and was the main reason Chicago couldn’t get the season sweep. On Friday against Denver, the Bulls allowed 44 points in the paint, which is an excellent sign.

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