The Chicago Bulls charge into the Air Canada Centre Sunday afternoon to take on the Toronto Raptors for the second time in the past week. The Bulls won the first meeting 104- 97 thanks in large part to some stellar play from reserves Aaron Brooks, Tony Snell, and rookie Bobby Portis who combined for 51 points off the bench while the Raptors only managed to get 27 points from their second unit. Toronto heads into today’s contest on a two game win streak and has won five of their last seven games. Dwane Casey‘s team, which holds a record of 21-13, needs to walk away with a win tonight in order to prevent the Bulls from overtaking them at number two in the Eastern Conference standings. The game tips off in Toronto at 3:30 PM/EST.
Cage’s Keys to the Game
Rebounding as a Team Effort
Like we said last week, the Chicago Bulls are currently the NBA’s number one ranked team in overall rebounding with an average of 49.2 per game. Although Toronto is also in the top ten (8th place with an average of 44.6 per game) the margin between them is still significant. In order to compete on the boards the Raptors need to get a high level of effort from more than just Bismack Biyombo. Perhaps with Demarre Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas having a few games under their belt post-injury will allow them to see more time on the court down the stretch.
Back Court Chemistry
This game pits two of the best Eastern Conference back courts against one another as Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozan will go head to head with Jimmy Butler and whatever is left of Derrick Rose (shots kinda-sorta fired.) Although Butler had a quiet outing the last time these two teams suited up against one another you can count on him being completely engaged in the game whenever he’s on the court. In order to pull out a win the Raptors will need both of their star guards to perform at the top of their games. With all four players being worthy of All-Star considerations, this should be an entertaining duel to keep an eye out for during the game.
Bench Performance
In the first match up Aaron Brooks and Tony Snell repeatedly abused the Toronto Raptors’ perimeter defence. The duo scored 17 and 22 points respectively and were met with little resistance all night. Expect Corey Joseph and Demarre Carroll in particular to play much more astute defence in this afternoon’s rematch.
X-Factor: Terrence Ross, again.
The Toronto Raptors are a much stronger offensive threat when Terrence Ross is able to keep defences honest and effectively spread the floor with his jump shot. Over the past 5 games the sharpshooter has been averaging 12.4 points off the bench while shooting and respectable 41% from distance. In addition to being more engaged on the offensive side of the ball Ross has also been solid in man to man defensive situations. If he can find a way to simply be a net positive in both of these categories each night then maybe the bench can begin to finally develop some chemistry.
