Daily Bulls

DeMar DeRozan will face the Raptors for the 11th time since he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs before the 2018-19 season. Both are coming off tough losses to watch. The Chicago Bulls lost on Friday against the Boston Celtics, 123-119; DeRozan dropped 46 points and led a comeback that came up short. Like the Bulls, the Raptors tried making a late comeback but came up short against the Dallas Mavericks, 111-110.

Matchup to Watch

O. G. Anunoby vs DeMar DeRozan

The matchup to look out for later today will be the battle of a former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan vs. a potential Raptors star O. G. Anunoby. Both players led their teams in their last games, and this matchup is a battle of who will help their team more. You can make a case for each player, but DeRozan might be asked to put up at least 30 points with Zach Lavine questionable. In ten games against his former team, he has averaged 23.8 points, 7.0 assists, and 6.4 rebounds. Last season, DeRozan shot below 42% in the two games in Toronto.

In ten games against his former team, he has averaged 23.8 points, 7.0 assists, and 6.4 rebounds. Last season, DeRozan shot below 42% in the two games in Toronto. O. G. Anunoby led the Raptors with 27 points on 11-for-21 shooting, with Pascal Siakam missing the fourth quarter due to a groin injury. With Siakam likely out against the Bulls, the Raptors will depend on Anunoby to be the leading scoring option. O. G. Anunoby has averaged 15.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.1 steals in 9 games this season.

Keys to the Game

Compete for 48 Minutes

Friday night against Boston, Chicago competed and gave it their all on every play. But that only happened for part of the game. If the Bulls played the well they fought back in the game against the Celtics for 48 minutes, they could win on the road against the Raptors. That competed spirit must start on the defensive end by limiting the Raptors to one shot and no second chance opportunities and rotating.

There were times on Friday Chicago became lazy and allowed Boston to take a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. Chicago must take every game seriously with the stacked Eastern Conference this season.

Ball Movement

When DeMar DeRozan exited the game to get some rest on Friday, Chicago could not get the ball moving, and that helped the Celtics get significant stops to build their lead. The Bulls finished the game with 21 assists as a team but became dependent on DeRozan’s isolations late in the game. During the second half of the 2021-22 season, Chicago became a very isolation type of team, which resulted in the Bulls falling in the standings.

With the key contributors off the bench, the ball has been moving, and everybody is getting touches. But the most important player to feed the ball to Nikola Vucevic. On Friday, Vucevic had a good game with 21 points but received fewer post touches than he usually does. The Bulls did not take advantage of mismatches and instead took threes, which they are known for. The inside-outside game with Vucevic has created opportunities in the past, and it will help the Bulls later today against the Raptors.

Injury Report

Bulls

Player	Injury	Status
Lonzo Ball	Knee	Out
Andre Drummond	Shoulder	Out
Coby White	Quad	Out
Zach Lavine	Knee Management	Questionable
Derrick Jones Jr	Thumb	Probable

Raptors

Player	Injury	Status
Pascal Siakam	Groin	Doubtful
Fred VanVleet	Back	Questionable
Khem Birch	Knee	Questionable

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