In an outstanding night of Raptors basketball, Toronto’s season started with a blowout win at home against the Chicago Bulls.
Was it an efficient win? Not really. Were the Chicago Bulls putting up much of a fight? Again, not really. But at this point in the season, it’s a lot less about getting overly bogged down in semantics, and more on starting the campaign off on the right foot. And that, the Raptors did.
From the outset of the contest, the Raptors were in near total control of the game’s flow.
Raining down threes and playing punishing defence. RJ Barrett opened up the scoring, and looked invigorated on the other side of the ball as well. Guarding Josh Giddey, Chicago’s point guard finished the game with two points, shooting 1-10 from the field. Not a great look for the SLOB Wizard to start off the season.
Barnes showed out with his midrange game, looking like he’d picked up from tricks from Kawhi Leonard over the summer. While Barnes had some issues with accuracy — going 8-19 — it’s also hard to argue with 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists. The same goes for Kawhi Leonard, who also posted 23 points and six assists, along with a filthy four steals. Was it ideal that he went 5-17 from the field? No, certainly not. But at times, arguing with success gets nobody anywhere.
Without a true centre, the Bulls were a mess, with matching efficiency issues — notably from rookie Caleb Wilson, who had the ultimate green light tonight. No Nic Claxton allowed the Raptors to feast, though Josh Smith played well in his absence for Chicago. Jakob Poelel played 22 minutes and had only three points. While six rebounds and two stocks isn’t awful, production from Yak wasn’t a highlight tonight.
Garbage time started with nearly 5 minutes left in the game. And while usually, empty stands are a bad sign, but the mass exodus of the Toronto faithful showcased some real faith in the Raps to get it done without their moral support. Considering Avicii and Drake was being blasted with the game nearly over, the Bulls handled the loss with more dignity than others might.
The Raptors started the season strong, finishing the game to a chorus of cheering fans and standing ovations. One might only hope the next 81 are this easy.
