Quick Reaction: Raptors 115, Bulls 125

Scottie was back into the starting lineup after a short one game absence in Indiana. He had a few possessions that were rough to watch in the first quarter, but he really got in the zone during the second quarter and never left. He’s been struggling to shoot the three lately but tonight he was on point there too. Scottie ran out of gas late in the game like the Raptors defence tonight as he missed so many shots down low that he needs to make.

RJ started the game with some bad misses down low but the one thing that was consistent about his game was his playmaking and surprisingly, he had a great connection with Orlando Robinson tonight, as three of his assists came from the big man. His finishing came alive in the second half and that now makes it two games in a row with a bad first half but a recovery in the second.

Yak started the game off involved heavily in the offence as a lot of the action was going through him in the high post. His decision making was really good as all the reads and passes he made ended up leading to a positive play. He wasn’t as involved in the offence after the first, unless we count his screens, which came in handy all night long once again tonight.

Gradey had a rough night from the field, except beyond the three point line, which all of his field goals came from, and he shot fifty percent there. It was actually a good performance in my opinion from the sophomore as he had great energy on the glass tonight and he wasn’t throwing any telegraphed passes that I was talking about during the last game. Also, how about Gradey’s last shot? That was Kobe-esque.

Quickley started the game quick as he made two three-pointers right away. He cooled off in the second quarter but his shotmaking came alive again in the second half and he finished the night with two straight consistent quarters. He committed the cardinal sin of fouling a three point shooter when up four with only a few seconds to go and that sent the game into overtime. He then fouled out in under a minute of play in overtime. Despite some bad plays late in the game, this makes it back to back good performances from Quickley as he had a good night in Indiana.

It looks like Robinson has gotten comfortable with the Raptors now and he showed some good chemistry with RJ Barrett tonight. He tried his luck with a few threes tonight and the second one just popped out. Anyways, he had yet another good outing and is in a run of good form lately.

A surprisingly quiet night from the most consistent bench member from Toronto, I’d say as he got a great run of minutes in the first half. His defensive energy was missing and outside of a couple of moments he had a relatively quiet night. After Shead went down late in the game during the fourth quarter, but he got another opportunity to check in the game in overtime and showed Raptors nation that he was ok.

Ochai looked like he was in for a good night as he drained a three pointer as soon as he checked in, but on the next play on defence he did a great job of contesting a Josh Giddey drive. The contact from the shot sent Agbaji’s momentum backwards and he stepped on Orlando Robinson’s foot which sprained his ankle. He was deemed out for the night before the first quarter even ended.

Once again Mogbo showed his active hands today as he started off with two near steals that he got his hands on defensively. Offensively he couldn’t get a shot to fall tonight but that doesn’t matter as he was great defensively all night long.

This might have been Walter’s best showing in quite some time. Statistically it doesn’t look like anything crazy, but two of his shots were created all by himself, which is great to see. Also, he showed some great energy tonight, especially on the offensive glass.

This was the first time we saw coach Darko go for a challenge in a while and it was yet another unsuccessful challenge. After losing Agbaji early in the game, he didn’t elect to reinstate the ten-man rotation that has been the norm in Toronto. The worst or best part about tonight, depending on how you look at it, is the fact that Darko refused to call a timeout during the crazy run from Chicago late in the fourth quarter when Toronto lost a big lead in the blink of an eye.