The Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls are heading in different directions in the race for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Although the Raptors lost a shocker heading into the All-Star break, they are still playing some great basketball of late. Meanwhile, the Bulls just suffered another defeat to a prime contender out in the East. Which team will prevail with a crucial win on Friday night? Let’s take a closer look at this thrilling matchup below.
Line: Toronto Raptors (-6) at Chicago Bulls (+6); total: 202.0 – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Toronto Raptors (35-17)
The Toronto Raptors had a very sloppy Wednesday night last week as they fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 117-112. Toronto once owned an 18-point lead in that game, but saw it slowly evaporate no thanks to 34 Raptor fouls.
Those fouls soon became points for the Wolves, who sank a whopping 43 of their free throws on 53 trips to the line. Even worse was that Toronto’s dynamic tandem of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were the main culprits behind the fouling spree, as each of them finished with five fouls for the game. Lowry was particularly shaken as he finished with just 14 points on 4-of-15 shooting and seven assists.
At least DeRozan had a much better outing despite his foul troubles, as he still managed to put up a game-high 35 points behind an 11-of-19 night from the floor.
It was rather visible that the Raptors couldn’t slow down the Wolves’ young guns before All-Star Weekend, but now they’ve had plenty of rest for their first game since the break and against an injury-depleted Bulls team at that. And let’s not forget the big picture, which is that Toronto has still won 14 of their last 16 games overall.
Even on the road, the Raptors have been rather exceptional. They are 7-2 (5-4 ATS) over their last nine games away from Canadian soil.
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Betting on the Chicago Bulls (27-26)
If the Chicago Bulls’ 106-95 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night is any indication, then it’s very clear that they cannot compete with the rest of the Eatern Conference’s powerhouses without Jimmy Butler in their lineup.
Butler, who’s been out with a knee injury since before the All-Star break, sat out Thursday’s game along with fellow teammates Nikola Mirotic (appendectomy) and Joakim Noah (season-ending shoulder injury).
Chicago rode Derrick Rose’s hot hand on Thursday (28 points, seven rebounds), but Rose found little to no support from the rest of his team. Only two other Bulls players scored in double-digits, and each of them put up less than 15 points apiece at that.
As such, Chicago’s offense sputtered as a whole. The team shot just 39.8 percent from the field, 13-of-22 from the free-throw line, and dished out a mere 12 assists.
Butler’s return is still up in the air, so the Bulls need a better shooting performance from every man on the roster if they are to contain Toronto’s stellar midseason run on Friday night. Then again, they have lost all five of their most recent contests at the United Center (SU/ATS).
What Chicago can work with is that they just defeated the Raptors on the road, 115-113, in the team’s first game of 2016. However, Butler and Mirotic were present for that match as they combined for 59 of their team’s 115 points in that victory.
Writer’s Prediction
The Raptors deal the Bulls their sixth-straight loss, 103-94.
