Even for those most willing to be patient with the Bulls rebuild, a 43-point loss to the Raptors on opening night was tough to swallow.
Caleb Wilson showed why he’s not ready to carry the franchise on his shoulders just yet. Matas Buzelis isn’t either — going just 2-of-8 for 17 points. Josh Giddey didn’t score his only basket until the very end of the third quarter, and was -39 while Tre Jones was +1 with the bench unit.
Before explaining away the loss by pointing to poor shooting (32 percent from the field, 4-of-36 from three), consider how they generated their offense. All night, the Bulls succumbed to the Raptors aggressive ball pressure, lacked the ability to touch the paint and couldn’t get stops on the other end. And if you’re not going to generate high quality shots, you’ve got to offset that with quantity.
The Raptors absolutely dominated the possession battle, which led to them attempting 13 more field goals than Chicago. They lose losing the effective field goal battle 34.1 percent to 50 percent, the turnover battle 27-10. They managed an edge in the offensive rebounding battle, 21-16 and the free throw battle, 47-46.
The Bulls are not as talented as the Raptors, who, after trading for Kawhi Leonard, are a legitimate NBA Finals contender. They’re also a uniquely bad matchup for Toronto, whose size, length, athleticism and physicality out-SLAP’d Chicago for 48 minutes.
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