NBA, Chicago Bulls - Toronto Raptors 10/12/2019 preview

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Tonight NBA The league will have plenty of action, with a total of 9 matches to be played. One of the most exciting games of the night will take place in Chicago, between the local Bulls and the visitors from Toronto. This is the match we will analyse in more detail and, as always, below you will find our prediction and our suggested bet from this match.
Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka

Both the Chicago Bulls and the Toronto Raptors have been on a recent losing streak, which one of these teams will be able to break. The Chicago Bulls (8-16) have lost their last two games in a row, while the Toronto Raptors (15-7) have lost three in a row.

Toronto Raptors

Despite the losing streak, Raptors the players can be partly justified, given the opponents against whom they lost. Only after the overtime, they lost 110-121 to the Miami Heat, one of the Eastern Conference leaders. Next, a 109-119 loss to the Houston Rockets, one of the strongest teams in the Western Conference, and a 104-110 loss on the road to last year's Eastern Conference finalist, the Philadelphia 76ers. Overall, all seven of Toronto's losses have come against the top-ranked teams in their conferences. The losses were to the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers. On the other hand, the Raptors have beaten only three teams considered really strong: the Los Angeles Lakers, the same Philadelphia 76ers (at home) and the Utah Jazz.

Pascal Siakam Toronto Raptors

It is also important to note that Kyle Lowry, the team's nominal leader, missed most of the start of the season, while S. Ibaka also had some health problems and only returned to the court last week. Considering that the team has played more than 20 games without these important players and still sits at the top of the Eastern Conference, it is safe to say that the Toronto Raptors have a lot of potential and we should see more opportunities for this team in the near future.

The Toronto Raptors played poor defence in their last game against the 76ers, which was partly responsible for the loss. Philadelphia shot over 50% from the field, hitting ~44% three-pointers. Considering that this team is not a good three-point shooting team, this is an incredibly high shooting percentage, which shows that the Toronto Raptors did not handle their opponents' shots. Kyle Lowry looked much better in his second game back from injury than in the first game, scoring 26 points, adding 6 rebounds and 5 assists. OG Anunoby, an important rotation player, also returned from injury, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

The undisputed leader of the Toronto Raptors is Cameroon's Pascal Siakam, who emerged last season and has had even more opportunities to shine since Kawhi Leonard's departure. He ranks 11th in the league in scoring, averaging 25 points per game and 8.6 rebounds. Kyle Lowry adds 20.5 points and 7 assists. Lowry is well supported by Fred VanVleet, who averages 18.7 points per game.

Zach Lavine Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are one of the most unpredictable teams this season. Although the team has a lot of potential and seems to have the potential to take the lead, the team hasn't shown any consistent play, apart from a few sporadic flashes one night or another. This is evidenced by two losses to one of the weakest teams in the NBA right now, the Golden State Warriors. On the other hand, the Miami Heat were beaten 105-110 in overtime, and if it had not been for Herro's killer three-pointers at the end of the game, Chicago would have had a very good chance of winning.

Lauri Markkanen shone in the game against the Heat on Sunday and Monday night, scoring 22 points in what seemed like a return to his usual form. Before that, Zach LaVine was the Bulls' leading scorer for 8 consecutive games and is having a career season. Nevertheless, LaVine didn't shine against the Heat, shooting just 24% from the field and adding 7 errors.

Zach LaVine leads the Chicago Bulls in scoring with an average of 22.5 points per game. Meanwhile, Finland's Lauri Markkanen is scoring 13.9 points along with 6.7 rebounds. One of the better rookies this year, C. White, coming off the bench, adds 12.5 points per game. Sophomore Wendell Carter Jr. is averaging a double-double with 12.3 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Forecast

This will be the second match in two days for both teams, so both teams are evenly matched and neither team will have an advantage. Given how unstable Chicago has been this season, it might be difficult to predict a winner, although the Toronto Raptors will certainly go into this game as favourites. Because Toronto has been doing well against potentially lower level teams this season. Lowry, Anunoby and Ibaka are slowly coming back, while Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and other key players have also picked up their game and good form during their absence. The Raptors should be able to break their losing streak and take home a win in Chicago by more than 5 points.

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