Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 111-105 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
One -- Stop if you heard this before, but the Raptors battled back after a slow start but failed to close out in a tight game. The fact that the Raptors are capable of swinging so hot and cold is exactly why they're a .500 team. They played no defence in the first half, and then locked down in the second half and forced the Bulls to turn it over on every other play. It's the inconsistency that frustrates you, but it's also the reason why you can never turn away from the game.
The hope is that this young Raptors team will eventually find some consistency. What separates them from being a surefire playoff team is the ability to focus for the full game, rather than just hitting their groove for one or two quarters per game.
Two -- The Raptors have developed a terrible habit of starting slow. The Raptors were down 14-2 after three minutes, and trailed by 17 at half against Chicago. It's similar to many of their games this month, where they fell behind by 10 to the Miami Heat after the first quarter, down nine after one to the Washington Wizards, conceding 40 points to a Utah Jazz team without any of their starters, and giving up 77 points in the first half to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The one commonality is a lack of defensive intensity, which was totally absent on Wednesday, as the Bulls waltzed to 67 points at halftime. DeMar DeRozan got to his spots at will, Zach LaVine flashed down the lane without any resistance, and Nikola Vucevic was allowed to play in the post without seeing a second defender despite the Raptors lacking a seven-footer to match his size.
Three -- The second half was another story. The Raptors made some smart adjustments, like blitzing the pick-and-roll to keep the Bulls' star guards from getting downhill, and then sending a third defender to rotate over to swipe the outlet pass to Vucevic. But more importantly, the Raptors just played with more intensity.
The shift happened in the third quarter, where the Raptors forced two jumpballs, caught Vucevic in a trap, coaxed a turnover with Pascal Siakam forcing his way around a moving screen, OG Anunoby blocking two jumpers, and the team creating a five-second violation after the Bulls called timeout to try and stem the tide. Those stops got the Raptors out in transition, and back in the game, including Anunoby giving the Raptors their only lead of the game with a dunk midway through the fourth.
It's another reminder that the Raptors can compete when anyone when they lock in on defence, because even a prolific offence like the Bulls' was wilting under the pressure when the Raptors found top gear with their endless army of six-foot-nine athletes swarming at the ball.
Four -- The Raptors gave themselves a chance to close despite their poor start. Toronto's first lead came on a dunk from Anunoby with three minutes left, at which point they held all of the momentum, except for the Bulls immediately responding through Zach LaVine driving right past Gary Trent Jr. and bursting past Chris Boucher's late rotation at the basket for an and-one sequence. The next play down, Scottie Barnes ran out to catch DeMar DeRozan with a quick double team, except he doubled from the wrong angle which allowed DeRozan to slip past him and Siakam who had to take the foul.
Trent Jr. got it back on the other end, except he was whistled for the technical, then Boucher missed a wide-open three to tie, coupled with Dalano Banton missing two free throws on the putback, then Anunoby bricking a three of his own on the third try on the possession. The Bulls didn't even close the game so much as they simply outlasted the Raptors, who will look back on their 11 missed foul shots in a game they lost by one possession.
Five -- Trent Jr. stepped up once again in the absence of Fred VanVleet. Trent Jr. single-handedly kept the Raptors close in the first quarter, where he scored 11 points, and he was key in the comeback push with 16 points in the third quarter. Trent Jr. was aggressive in looking for his offence, both off curls around off-ball screens, or pulling up for long jumpers after selling the drive, as well as being the kickout option for catch-and-shoot threes.
When Trent Jr. is at his best, there is a level of aggressiveness to how he attacks where he takes contested shots that catches the defence by surprise, yet his footwork and touch is good enough to make tough baskets. Outside of his tendency to be out of rhythm following injuries, Trent Jr. has been a consistent source of scoring and a vital piece to what the Raptors do.
Six -- Trent Jr.'s ejection was incredibly soft. Sure, if you go by the letter of the law, yelling and clapping in the direction of the officials is an acceptable technical, but context really matters.
First off, it was a missed call by the official in a two-point game with two minutes left, and Trent Jr. was backpedalling on defence and made no move towards the official.
Second, he was already on a yellow after picking up a cheap double-technical while jostling for a jumpball with Vucevic in the third quarter. What Trent Jr. showed was passion in a hotly contested game; it came from a place of competitiveness, and it was hardly out of line from how many players react in those moments. Ejecting him completely changed the tenor of the game, and left the Raptors without a much-needed shooter to finish out the comeback.
Seven -- This was an off-night from Siakam with his scoring. He saw a consistent stream of double teams and physical defence, but that is standard coverage for Siakam of late. The biggest difference for him was the lack of touch on the shots that he typically makes, like the little flip shots in the lane after spinning and stretching past the defence.
Siakam was audibly frustrated with himself after missing so many point-blank attempts, including key free throws in the second half, because the Bulls didn't have any defenders to stop him. But the other parts of his game were there, including the playmaking to find his teammates, and that continues to be the best attribute to his game. Outside of a shaky start where the Raptors were uncharacteristically turnover prone, Siakam was consistently able to read the defence to find the open man. His best pass of the game was on a post up where he took an extra dribble to make sure the double team converged on him, before kicking it to the opposite corner to find Anunoby open for three.
There is a budding chemistry between those two, as Siakam has also made a habit of feeding Anunoby in the post when Anunoby does the hard work of running ahead in transition and sealing his man under the basket.
Eight -- Banton gave the Raptors another strong shift off the bench. Nick Nurse initially had both Banton and Malachi Flynn in the rotation, but with the Raptors shifting to a more aggressive defensive strategy for the second half, Nurse turned the bulk of those minutes to the six-foot-nine Banton. Outside of a missed three and the pair of shanked free throws at the end, it was a positive stint from Banton in which he was able to make two great reads for steals in the second half, one to swipe LaVine with a surprise double, and another to rip Vucevic on his spin move similar to how VanVleet robs bigs by coming in last second the blind side.
As for the offence, Banton gives the Raptors another ball handler to take the load off Siakam from having to bring it up each time, and he's stepping into open threes with confidence rather than passing up shots, which is a noted improvement from the start of the year, where he would only look to drive, making him predictable.
Nine -- Scottie Barnes was much better in the second half. He was erratic to start as he whipped two passes straight out of bounds, while also being way off on a pair of threes, but, as he so often does, Barnes grew into the game. He was efficient in finishing and handling out of the pick-and-roll, and in late shot clock scenarios, Barnes took it strong to the basket against smaller defenders and was able to score over the top, including on a drive against DeRozan where he hung in the air and used his length to shoot a leaning bank shot to beat the clock.
Barnes is a tantalizing player who will tease you with moments of dominance between long stretches of apathy, and leave you wondering why he doesn't take the initiative to attack that aggressively more often.
Ten -- The Raptors were smart to initiate most of their offence out of the post. One of the benefits to starting so many long forwards is that there will be mismatches, and the Raptors have three options to turn to between Siakam, Anunoby, and Barnes. The Raptors made a point to go at DeRozan, who is still a defensive turnstile, and also sought out LaVine and Coby White at times.
Without VanVleet to operate in pick-and-roll, there aren't many players who can get downhill and create paint touches outside of Siakam, so reorienting the offence to attack through the post was a good alternative. Posting up with the intent to score has gone out of fashion of late since they are not highly efficient plays in terms of points per shot, but the Raptors also have the benefit of two clever passers in Barnes and Siakam who can make the next play after drawing doubles.
