Raptors and Bulls Set to Battle in Play-In Tournament

The Toronto Raptors (41-41) will host the Chicago Bulls (40-42) Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament. The winner of this game will play the Miami Heat on Friday for the final playoff spot in the conference.

Expectations

During the regular season, the Bulls played the Raptors three times and came out on top once. Both games Toronto won against Chicago were at home.

The Bulls are offensively led by Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. This season, LaVine averaged 24.8 points per game, while DeRozan had 24.5 points per game. Vucevic recorded  17.6 points per game, as well.

https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1646136314880749571?s=20

Raptors forward Pascal Siakam has been on fire this season as a team leader for Toronto. Siakam is the team’s points leader, scoring an average of 24.2 points per game. Siakam also averaged 7.8 rebounds per game.

Toronto center Jakob Poeltl has also contributed significantly to the Raptors wins. He nearly averaged a double-double, putting up 12.5 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Major Matchups

Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby and Bulls guard Demar DeRozan will be one of the best matchups of the game. During the regular season, Anunoby had the task of guarding DeRozan and worked hard to push him out to the perimeter, keeping the ball out of DeRozan’s hands.

Another matchup to look out for is Bulls guard Alex Caruso going up against Siakam. Out of the three games against each other, Siakam only played in the game on Feb. 28. During that contest, Siakam scored 20 points and he steadily backed Caruso down before either a fadeaway or a drive to the basket.

Play-In prep

Open Gym: Moment presented by @Bell pic.twitter.com/TLseohhUwT

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) April 12, 2023

Game Time

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. This season, the Bulls had a 18-23 road record while Toronto had an impressive 27-14 record at home. The winner will travel to Miami to face the Heat on Friday.

Which game do YOU want to watch a player's warmup from before tonight's #ATTPlayIn action on ESPN? #NBAVote

7:00pm/et: @chicagobulls/@Raptors
9:30pm/et: @okcthunder/@PelicansNBA

— NBA (@NBA) April 12, 2023