Raptors defence steps up to fend off Bulls for important win

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The Chicago Bulls may be behind the Raptors in the Eastern Conference standings, but there is an element of their game their hosts would love to steal.

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Since the calendar turned to 2023, the Bulls own the top defensive rating in the league.

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That’s fewer points per 100 possessions against than 21 teams in the league ahead of them in the standings.

The Raptors are striving to get to that level of defensive excellence and had a front row seat last night to how it was being done.

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The two teams went back and forth all night in this one with no team getting further than eight points ahead of the other at any point in the game.

As advertised, Chicago’s defence was stingy holding the Raptors below 40% shooting for much of the game.

The only thing keeping the Raptors close was the volume of shots they were getting up and the usual big advantage in the turnover department, an area of defence the Raptors doesn’t take a back seat to any other team.

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This one would come down to the final half of the final quarter.

With his former starters — the old five with Trent Jr. joining Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, O. G. Anunoby and Scottie Barnes on the floor for the final six minutes, Nurse got enough offence and just the defence he needed to close this one out.

The Bulls were within five points with just over four minutes remaining and went on a run of empty trips as the Raptors started to pull away for a 104-98 victory.

It was the Raptors’ fifth win in the past six games and was key for potential play-in seeding and home court advantage should these two teams find themselves in the play-in tournament.

Siakam once again led all Raptors with 20 points and shared the team lead in rebounds with eight with Anunoby and Barnes.

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Nikola Vucevic lead the Bulls with 23 points.

VanVleet, making his first start since a three-game absence as the VanVleet family welcomed their third child into the world, looked a little rusty as expected going just 1-for-10 from the field but he had the facilitator part of his game, piling up eight assists in a, for him, conservative 35 minutes.

Looking much more aggressive in his fourth game back since a near month-long absence was Anunoby.

He was decisive on the catch for this threes and determined on his drives.

Trent Jr., in his first game coming off the bench since the break, remained the factor we thought he would be regardless of his role. He got up 13 shots in 24 minutes, 11 of them from behind the arc where he made five for a 19-point night.

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He was also on the floor to end the game, a much more important measuring stick of a players worth to his team.

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LINEUP CHANGE

As expected, just a few days later than expected, Trent Jr. is now coming off the bench.

With the arrival of a true centre in Jakob Poeltl, one of Nick Nurse’s starting five was headed for a reserve role. But the arrival of the third child in the VanVleet family meant that full roster didn’t occur until Tuesday night with the Bulls’ arrival.

Trent Jr. became the odd-man out as much for what he could bring to the second unit as anything else.

He is instant offence and has thrived in both starting and coming off the bench this year.

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ROSTER CHANGE

Maybe the Raptors front office just got tired of the Maple Leafs stealing all the thunder with all those moves of late.

In any event, the Raptors dipped their toes in the roster alteration waters following their recent success at the trade deadline with Poeltl.

Arriving was 32-year-old guard Will Barton. Leaving to make room on the roster for him was 27-year-old forward Juancho Hernangomez.

Hernangomez, most famous for his role as Bo Cruz in the Adam Sandler movie Hustle, appeared in 42 games, he made 10 starts and shot 25% from three, the skill that attracted the Raptors to him in the first place.

Barton, who was waived by the Washington Wizards a week ago making him available, was shooting just under 39% from three this year and is a career 36% shooter from three.

Nurse said it was as much how the Hernangomez contract was structured as anything else that made him the odd man out. The team still wants a look at some of the younger guys under contract and felt they had given Hernangomez a decent shot to show what he could do.

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