The Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls 106-102 to remain a perfect 3-0 this preseason.
The Raptors were missing Jakob Poeltl once again due to illness, Precious Achiuwa, Otto Porter Jr. and Christian Koloko.
Toronto was led by Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam who showed off their 1-2 punch in this game.
Barnes was magnificent on both sides of the ball. He finished with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals on 8-14 shooting from the field and 2-3 from deep.
His running mate Pascal Siakam chipped in with 22 points as well. He also had 5 rebounds, 3 steals and was a very efficient 8-11 from the field.
Barnes and Siakam were especially good in the fourth quarter. At one point they combined to score all of the Raptors 17 points in the quarter which shifted the momentum in favour of Toronto.
Then Barnes and Siakam along with the rest of the starters sat out the rest of the fourth as the bench unit held on for the victory.
The second unit was solid for the Raptors. They outscored the Bulls bench 40-22 and Gary Trent Jr. led the way with 11 points. He scored 8 of his 11 points in the first quarter, which helped jump-start the Raptors offense.
Trent Jr. looks ready to embrace the sixth man role for the Raptors and be a real impact player from off the bench. Rookie Gradey Dick had 7 points in 17 minutes and Jalen McDaniels along with Thad Young finished with 6 points a piece.
Malachi Flynn who continues to get a lot of minutes this preseason struggled in this one. He was 0-7 from the field and 0-3 from three. He only had 2 points and struggled on the defensive end as well.
It’ll be interesting to see if Darko Rajakovic still runs with Flynn in the rotation.
The Raptors forced the Bulls into 22 turnovers and it was nice to see the Raptors get to the free throw line 38 times. The Raptors are developing some nice habits as the regular season approaches.
Next on tap
The Raptors will finish up their preseason on Oct. 20 at home against the Washington Wizards.
Toronto will then have a couple of days off before they kick off their regular season on Oct. 25 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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