Despite the absence of Pascal Siakam, the Raptors emerged victorious in their first game of a “back-to-back” against the Bulls last night (113-104). The Toronto club relied on a very good Fred VanVleet at the head of their attack, and on a consistent volume of play in defense to win.
Especially in front, the Bulls were without Zach LaVine, spared before the second game of the “back-to-back” tonight in Chicago, leaving DeMar DeRozan as the only priority on the “scouting report” of the Raptors.
Because the Bulls winger actually received preferential treatment from his former team, which in the absence of the All-Star back adopted a simple but effective strategy: isolate “Deebo” in attack. The former Raptor was consistently doubled on half court, sometimes even the second he crossed the halfway line.
Enough to force him to let go of the leather, and to rely on his teammates to find flaws in the defense of Toronto. What Nikola Vucevic (18 points), Ayo Dosunmu (15 points) and Goran Dragic (16 points) managed to do rather well, without really worrying the residents of the Scotiabank Arena.
A problem of reaction and execution in the face of double strikes
” It was predictable » explained afterwards DeMar DeRozanwho managed to shoot only 9 times (20 points).
” In the first half, we did pretty well, less so in the second half. We failed to take advantage [de ces prises à deux]. It’s a good lesson for us, we still have to understand how to attack these situations. […] It’s not frustration that predominates, because whatever it is, we have to react according to what the defense gives us. On most possessions, the errors came from our readings. We just need to execute better. »
” We still have to be able to generate good shots. We can’t afford to be a fatalistic team, thinking, ‘If DeMar doesn’t score 35 points, it’s going to be tough for us to win.’ ” regretted Billy Donovan, helpless on his bench as his team lost 17 balls against this stifling defense.
With the expected return of Zach LaVine for the second round tonight, the Chicago coach will once again be able to rely on an attack in full possession of its resources. But we can also count on Nick Nurse, on the opposing bench, to simmer a new strategy accordingly…
| DeMar DeRozan | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2009-10 | TOR | 77 | 22 | 49.8 | 25.0 | 76.3 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 8.6 |
| 2010-11 | TOR | 82 | 35 | 46.7 | 9.6 | 81.3 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 17.2 |
| 2011-12 | TOR | 63 | 35 | 42.2 | 26.1 | 81.0 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 16.7 |
| 2012-13 | TOR | 82 | 37 | 44.5 | 28.3 | 83.1 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 18.1 |
| 2013-14 | TOR | 79 | 38 | 42.9 | 30.5 | 82.4 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 22.7 |
| 2014-15 | TOR | 60 | 35 | 41.3 | 28.4 | 83.2 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 20.1 |
| 2015-16 | TOR | 78 | 36 | 44.6 | 33.8 | 85.0 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 23.5 |
| 2016-17 | TOR | 74 | 35 | 46.7 | 26.6 | 84.2 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 27.3 |
| 2017-18 | TOR | 80 | 34 | 45.6 | 31.0 | 82.5 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 23.0 |
| 2018-19 | SAN | 77 | 35 | 48.1 | 15.6 | 83.0 | 0.7 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 21.2 |
| 2019-20 | SAN | 68 | 34 | 53.1 | 25.7 | 84.5 | 0.7 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 22.1 |
| 2020-21 | SAN | 61 | 34 | 49.5 | 25.7 | 88.0 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 6.9 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 21.6 |
| 2021-22 | CHI | 76 | 36 | 50.4 | 35.2 | 87.7 | 0.7 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 27.9 |
| 2022-23 | CHI | 10 | 34 | 49.4 | 26.7 | 90.1 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 25.6 |
| Total | 967 | 34 | 46.5 | 28.8 | 83.8 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 20.8 | |
