Fred VanVleet, a guard for the Toronto Raptors, believes that the nature of the play-in tournament for the Eastern Conference bodes “well for us.”
Toronto, which is scheduled to host the No. 9 seed, 10 seed Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, can “secure in on a certain something” before one more could come into center, VanVleet said.
The winner will travel to Miami on Friday to play the Milwaukee Bucks, the East’s top seed, in the first round of the playoffs. The Intensity fell 116-105 to the meeting Atlanta Birds of prey on Tuesday in the standoff for the East’s No. 7 seed.
“It’s not exactly the playoffs but a similar type of preparation, getting ready for win or go home,” VanVleet said of the upcoming matchup.
Toronto defeated Chicago 2-1 in the regular-season series, winning both games on its home court. Since Toronto’s 104-98 victory at home on February 28, the Raptors (41-41) and Bulls (40-42) have not played each other.
Nikola Vucevic led the Bulls with 23 points, while Pascal Siakam scored 20 points to lead a balanced Raptors offense.
DeMar DeRozan, the Chicago Bulls’ second-leading scorer and a longtime Raptor, attempted just 26 shots and scored 42 points against Toronto during the regular season, 10.5 points less than his season average of 24.5 points per game.
VanVleet repeated the methodology with regards to endeavoring to contain DeRozan and Zach LaVine, Chicago’s driving scorer.
The Bulls feel reenergized after their breakthrough run to the playoffs in 2021 and 2022, when they were inconsistent throughout the season.
Coach Billy Donovan was able to control the minutes as the team adjusted its collective mindset to the novelty of the play-in tournament because Chicago was aware of its seeding several days prior to Sunday’s regular-season finale.
Maintaining that one-of-a-kind focus, something DeRozan learned from participating in a play-in with the San Antonio Spurs two seasons ago, will be crucial for him.
The Bulls arrived at the midpoint of simply 10.4 made 3-pointers per game during the ordinary season, which positioned tied for rearward in the NBA.
That trend can only be improved, as can ball security. 21 Raptors points resulted from the Bulls’ 20 turnovers in the meeting on February 28.
However, Chicago has surpassed No. 1 in the league in allowing the fewest opponent points per game (107.9) since the All-Star break. Toronto, 2 (108.6).
