The Raptors are trying to avoid the play-in

Samson Folk & Trevon Heath detail the latest in the Raptors realm.

From Louis’ piece:

“Not to be outdone, Darko Rajakovic trusted his deeper bench far more than he did against the Pistons. (Which makes sense, the Bulls are not good.) Jamison Battle responded with some versatile play, even screening and spraying, as well as his usual dose of shot-making. Shead Nash’d drives and commanded the game in true, old-fashioned style (he didn’t shoot).

Ja’Kobe Walter hit his jumpers and even threw in some offensive rebounding as a means of finding some non-traditional routes to value. He gathered a chasedown block in transition, which led to a Sandro Mamukelashvili one-handed punch in transition. In the third quarter, he stutter ripped into a drive and found Mamukelashvili in the dunker spot for a layup. Later Walter drove from the corner, pump-faked, and scored through the foul. We’ve seen far too little of those types of drives from him in the NBA.

The lead was 20, then 30, then 40. Toronto forced turnovers. They were faster and bigger and stronger. On the other end, the Raptors used their size to dominate the paint and score with ease, forcing then finding mismatches.

The entire fourth quarter was garbage time. (Gradey Dick, to keep the good times rolling, hit a triple in the waning seconds.)

The Bulls actually scored alright. Well, no. But they shot fairly well, at least in the first half. But in a beatdown like this one, simply hitting triples wasn’t nearly enough to keep Chicago in the game. Every Bulls drive seemed to have a dig waiting for it. Help was always present. It has gone without saying for this season, but Barnes’ defence was spectacular. He destroyed whatever set the Bulls ran simply with his presence on the court. In the third quarter, with the Raptors up more than 20, he sprinted back in transition to poke the ball away from a Bulls’ transition ballhandler. Yes, the Bulls hit a fair number of triples. But the Raptors’ defence was very committed to a good gameplan.

And so the Raptors found perfection against the Bulls. It wasn’t the same high as the Raptors found against the Pistons in their last outing. But everyone found what worked and simply stayed in that lane. Such games are a breath of fresh air. As long as they are interspersed with tough wins.”

Have a blessed day.

LOTTO MAX x Toronto Raptors Max Contract Fan Contest is back! Providing Raptors Fans the chance to build their own prize pack worth $50,000. Some of the epic prizes up for grabs include Season Tickets for 2026-2027, A Dinner with a Toronto Raptor and even a piece of the Raptors Championship Court! To enter for a chance to win and learn more, visit  https://play.raptors.com/tb_app/543378

The post The Raptors are trying to avoid the play-in first appeared on Raptors Republic.