Daily Bulls

The Chicago Bulls get their first road win of 2022 against the Toronto Raptors, 115-98. First time for Chicago to hold their opponent to under 100 points. For the third consecutive game, DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls in points with 21. Pascal Siakam led the Raptors in scoring with 18 points and got nine rebounds but went 7-for-17 from the field. Both teams will have one more preseason game before the 2022-23 NBA season begins.

Billy Donavon decided to give Derrick Jones Jr a shot with the starters. This decision comes after Donavon said pregame he had a good training camp and deserved a chance to play more with the starters. Jones did not play much during the first two preseason games, with 20 minutes combined. He finished the game with six points in 18 minutes.

Sluggish first half for Chicago

Both teams finished shooting 41.3% from the field in the first half, but did the Raptors have a 57-47 leading into halftime? Careless turnovers, and that was on display throughout the first half against the Raptors. Chicago finished the first half with 16 turnovers, leading to 12 fastbreak points for the Raptors. So which Bulls player gave up the most turnovers in the first half? Zach Lavine.

Lavine had five turnovers and struggled, shooting 1-for-7 from the field. He would finish the game with nine points and shot 3-for-9 from the field but went 2-for-2 in the second half. He should be able to bounce in the last preseason against I-90 rival Milwaukee Bucks.

Javonte Green brought needed energy for the starters in third quarter

Coming out of halftime, Billy Donavon decided to put in Javonte Green to play with the starters. Green did not play in the first half. Javonte Green was the guy the starters needed because, within the first 1:11 of the third quarter, Chicago went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to three. Halfway through the third quarter, a Zach Lavine three-pointer got the Bulls their first lead since the first quarter.

All the Bulls starters were officially taken out of the game when they went up by four points, 73-69. Green scored six points and went 2-for-2 from deep in the third quarter. Four Bulls players scored at least six points in the third quarter: DeRozan, Lavine, Vucevic, and Green.

Bulls Small Ball lineup dominates in fourth quarter

After a couple of unexpected Andre Drummond three-pointers, Billy Donavon decided to run Derrick Jones Jr at the center position to have a small ball lineup with 6:39 left in the game. The others to join Jones Jr on the court were Terry, Green, White, and Dosunmu. Everybody got involved, including Javonte Green, who had 11 points in the fourth quarter. Chicago would score Toronto 22-11 with the small ball lineup and take complete demand of the game.

The Bulls completely dominated in the fourth quarter outscoring the Raptors 38-11 and shooting 70% from the field. Toronto finished the fourth quarter shooting 20%. They went 0-for-10 from three and couldn’t find any way to get back in the game. Chicago would go on to win the game 115-98 and are now 2-1 in the preseason.

Final Thoughts

Does Green deserve to be a starter?

Entering training camp, the Bulls were focused on the point guard battle between Ayo Dosunmu and Goran Dragic. But the battle is Patrick Williams and Javonte Green. Green has played better, and the Bulls are looking for energy-type plays, which Green provides. Javonte Green finished the game shooting 7-for-8 from the field, which resulted in 17 points. It’s unclear who will start on Tuesday against the Bucks. Expectations should be that Green gets the start.

Shooting struggles continue for Toronto

The central theme for Toronto during the preseason is their lack of shooting. Toronto has shot below 50% from the field in each game during the preseason. Fred Vanvleet struggled from deep shooting 3-for-12 but managed to get 13 points. The Raptors will get one more chance on Friday to get hot before their first regular season game against the Cavaliers on October 19th.

Up Next

Chicago will take on Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Toronto will face Boston on Friday.

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