Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors

Well tonight should be interesting if you are a Raptors fan and will be watching the broadcast. Oh wait, I believe it is on TSN2, so most of you won’t be watching unless you are at a bar or can find a crappy Internet feed. For that info I suggest checking out Raptors Republic.

For those not in Canada, I will put it like this. Imagine your local team has games on ESPN 2 and your local provider does not carry that station. That is what fans in Toronto have to deal with, retarded eh?

For the 18 people who have TSN2, you get the witness the Raps take on the Bulls and that only means one thing. The return of Chuck Swirsky. The former Raps broadcaster is now working for the Bulls and I can only imagine how much Chucky will flood the broadcast tonight. Over/Under at 24 for how many times his name comes up.

The Bulls and Raps are two teams doing much worse than their fans expected. The Raps can beat the bad teams and compete for most of the game with the good teams. So where do the Bulls fall in? One thing is for sure, Derrick Rose should put on a show at the ACC.

Grab a bottle of booze and play a drinking game with yourself, every time they mention Swirsky, take a swig. The ending will probably be a lot easier to watch.

Here is everything you need to know for tonight’s game.

The Goods

  • With Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng back in action, the Bulls look to rebound from a disappointing outing tonight against the Raptors, who could again be without Jermaine O’Neal and Jose Calderon.
  • Hinrich missed 31 games with a torn ligament in his right thumb before coming back Monday, his first game action since Nov. 7. Deng also returned from an eight-game absence due to a sprained ankle, but Chicago was outscored 88-67 over the final three quarters of a 109-95 home loss to Portland.
  • The Bulls have lost eight of their last nine on the road to fall to 4-15 on the season. After winning seven straight games at Air Canada Centre, Chicago’s lost its last two trips to Toronto, including 93-78 in its only visit last season.
  • Chris Bosh had 16 points and 13 rebounds in that game, but was held to 12.7 points per game - 9.6 below his season average - as the Raptors won two of three against the Bulls in 2007-08.

For Bettors

  • Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
  • Under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Toronto.
  • Bulls are 7-2 ATS in the last 9 meetings in Toronto.
  • Bulls are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings.

Prediction

This is a real crap shoot picking between two teams that are so random. So for that reason I am going to pick a Raps win just because they are at home and they did play pretty well on Monday before blowing it in OT. Deng always seems to play well against Toronto, so if they can limit him, that will be the difference. Raps win, get out the salami and cheese, 97-90.

Popularity: 1% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!