Raptors at Bulls
THE STORY: Following their win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday, the Bulls have all but clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since Michael Jordan was playing at the United Center. The Raptors are about to get very busy, playing four games in the next five days as they begin to wrap up another dreary season. A loss to the Bulls would equal Toronto’s second-longest losing streak this season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, WGN, Sportsnet One
ABOUT THE BULLS (55-20): On the verge of wrapping up the top seed in the East, the Bulls were rewarded Friday with Derrick Rose winning the Eastern Conference player of the month award for March and Tom Thibodeau taking home the coach’s award for March as well. The Bulls went 13-3 during the month and lead both the Heat and Celtics by three games in the loss column with seven to play. They’ve won six of their last seven and are in position for their first 60-win season since 1997-98, which was also the last of the Bulls’ six championships. Rose had a remarkable month, setting career highs in various games for points (42), assists (17) and 3-pointers made in one game (six). Thibodeau, in his first season as a head coach, also won the coach’s award in January.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (20-54): The slumping Raptors are staggering to
the finish line, losers of five straight and facing a schedule that
doesn’t get much easier. Beginning with Saturday’s game against Chicago,
their next three games are against playoff teams, as are five of the
final eight on the schedule. The defense has fallen apart on the losing
skid, with opponents averaging 114.6 points over the last five games.
Opponents are shooting 48.3 percent from the floor this season against
the Raptors, second-worst in the league. Only Detroit (48.4 percent) is
worse.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, a favorite to win his first MVP award, is averaging 27 points and 9.2 assists in his last five games. Carlos Boozer is shooting 57 percent (32 of 46) in his last four games. Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani scored 22 points and made 8 of 14 shots in Wednesday’s loss to the Bucks after sitting out a game with bone spurs. DeMar DeRozan made just 2 of 13 3-point attempts during the month of March.
KEY STATISTIC: The Bulls have won at least 57 games seven times in their history. They’ve won an NBA championship in six of those seven years. The only time they didn’t was 1971-72, when they lost in the Western Conference semifinals after going 57-25 during the regular season. The Bulls enter Saturday’s game with 55 victories.
SEASON SERIES: The Bulls lead the series 2-1. This is the final meeting between the two teams.
KEY INJURIES: TORONTO: G Jose Calderon (hamstring); C Andrea Bargnani (ankle). CHICAGO: C Joakim Noah (ankle).
LAST WORD: “He really wants to be a good basketball player. He’s a great kid. He wants to be coached, he wants to be told what he’s doing wrong, he wants to be told what he needs to do to get better and when you have a guy with his talent who’s willing to accept that kind of coaching, then the sky’s the limit.” – Raptors coach Jay Triano on Bulls guard Derrick Rose, whom Triano coached on the Americans’ FIBA world championship team last fall.