Quick Reaction: Bulls 122, Raptors 121

Threw down a lob from Poeltl after the Raptors first timeout, which seemed like it would energize the team, but it didn’t. Ochai had the Raptors’ first make of the second half with a catch-and shoot-3 from the right slot. Stuck with Coby White on a late clock drive and got the block. Also did a nice job moving and cutting within the flow of the offence. Shot wasn’t falling, but all-around solid game from Agbaji.

A bit of an off game for Mogbo. Was generally quiet and not involved a ton even with his significant minutes. To end the third, he screened for Barrett and then had a nice duck-in when the defence over helped, resulting in him finishing at the rim for an and-one.

Very run of the mill Jakob Poeltl game. He did a great job using re-screens to carve out additional space for Barrett in the pick n’ roll. Poeltl had the Raptors first four points, grabbing a pocket pass from Star-J on the roll and depositing it into the basket, and then giving Gradey a massive target in the lane in transition and finishing again. Poeltl is just so good at clearing out enormous tracts of space for his teammates with his screen craft. Raptors Republic’s Louis Zatzman wrote a fantastic piece recently on all Poeltl does for the Raptors’ offence including the screening. Highly recommend it! Later on Poeltl slid on what appeared to be a slippery spot on the floor, appearing to over stretch his groin. He left the game (was nice to see him walk off under his own power) and was ruled out for the remainder of the night with a groin injury.

Had a nice play in the first minute where he looked like he was going to slow it down in transition, then immediately turned and found Poeltl streaking through the lane where he finished. Dick had a high energy stretch in the second quarter where he used a stutter rip to beat his man and went straight to the rim for a finger roll. Next trip down he used the flair screen option in 77 Shallow to shake open for a 3PA (he missed but good process), then he flew in on the baseline and grabbed an offensive board. Motor! Then he had another high difficulty drive and finish through a crowd of Bulls. Dick was scoring from everywhere except 3-point land (until the fourth that is). In the third quarter he got to his middy off the dribble and it dropped with a shooters bounce, then he passed to Poeltl in the paint and got it right back on a cut for a dunk! Dick even knocked down all three free throws after he was fouled in the corner by Josh Giddey in the third. Giddey left after the play with an ankle injury.

Made some good reads as the pick n’ roll ball-handler early, slinging skip pass to an open Agbaji in the corner and making a perfect pocket pass to Poeltl. Also had a tough spinning and-one finish. With Barrett I’m not sure what’s more inevitable, the transition scoring or the blowbys he allows on defence. You’ve got to take the good with the bad with him. And there was a lot of good in this game. Chicago’s porous backline defence was no match for Barrett’s dominant driving. The Canadian had an emphatic slam in the second after the Bulls lost him on the break on the way to 19 first-half points. He would have had more if a couple high arcing scoops didn’t spill out. A lot of assists in this one and a lot of turnovers. Bound to happen with all the newfound creation responsibility that is being thrust onto his plate.

In the second quarter, Walter drove a close out, spun in the lane, and finished from the short mid-range with a floater. He looks so composed in confined spaces sometimes, especially for a rookie. Walter competes so hard on defence too. A couple possessions a later he fought hard over a screen, recovered to the roller, and got his long outstretched arm in the way of Lonzo’s feed into the paint for his second steal in the first half. Again, in the fourth he got the close out with an up fake and got downhill for a finish off glass. Would like to see him take more 3s.

Boucher got back into action in the first quarter after not playing in the last three. And you know he made it count with the hustle. Boucher was wholeheartedly contesting every shot he could and it didn’t take long for him to evoke the “BONJOUR” from Jack Armstrong with a patented putback. He was active on the glass and relentless at the rim. Boucher is a “high-event” player, and tonight, a good share of those events were good.

Was slow-footed getting back in transition later on in the first quarter, resulting in Matas Buzelis getting behind him for an easy slam. Was also in tough against Nikola Vucevic on defence. Overall, an uninspiring performance from Olynyk. He looked sluggish and was often overmatched.

Didn’t have much success getting his feet in the paint on drives and looked more hesitant than usual when trying to initiate. His actions with Olynyk didn’t generate much of anything. Mostly did a good job walling off drives and playing his usual suffocating on-ball defence. Hustled back hard in transition and ended up being credited with an outstanding block on Ayo Dosunmu after Darko acquiesced to Mitchell’s frantic pleas for a challenge.

First quarter minutes for our labour king! Love Garrett, but he came off a handoff from Kelly Olynyk and I think it maybe created the least amount of advantage of any handoff ever. So, no advantage, I guess. Or a negative advantage. I’m sorry Garrett please forgive me.

Didn’t enter the game until the fourth quarter, but he earned his way to playing the entire thing including the closing minutes while the Raptors clawed their way back into the game. Shead was pesky and physical on defence while still keeping his check in front, things he’s had some difficulty with lately. Hit a 3 and got a push shot to go in lane. He made a couple impressive passes too. Hustled for the offensive board on the second to last possession and jetted to the rim for a quick two to keep the possibility of comeback alive. Then for good measure he banked in a triple at the buzzer making the score 122-121. Shead is a winning player, and he did everything in his power to help the Raptors come close to winning tonight.

Came close to emptying the bench in the first quarter, including Chris Boucher and Garrett Temple. The team look flat early and Darko was proactive taking two timeouts, first after some subpar rotations and then after a lacklustre effort getting back in transition. The Raptors ran a nice ATO after the first one that resulted in a lob for Agbaji. Used his challenge successfully in the third quarter at the behest of Davion Mitchell. Not going to blame the Raptors lack of effort and focus on Darko, he’s more than proven his ability to galvanize the troops and get a the best out of players.