The Chicago Bulls traveled up north on Thursday night for a date with the new-look Toronto Raptors. After trading OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks a few weeks ago, they just moved two-time All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers, completely shuffling their roster around with Scottie Barnes at the center of it.
Unfortunately for the Raptors, they weren’t able to take home a win in the face of a lot of movement, as the Bulls squeaked out a 116-110 victory that came down the final few minutes. However, while the game was close for the most part, the Bulls absolutely dominated the Raptors in one key area of the contest.
Chicago outscored Toronto 74-50 in the painted area. Big man Nikola Vucevic, who helped lead that charge, spoke about his part in the dominance after the game.
“I knew I had a little bit of a size advantage and I was trying to take advantage of it,” Vucevic said via ESPN.
The Bulls center finished the game with 24 points, 14 rebounds (including five on the offensive glass), seven assists, two steals, and one block while shooting 12-of-20 from the field (including 12-of-17 from inside the three-point arc).
With Jakob Poeltl still sidelined for the Raptors, two-way player Jontay Porter has been getting a ton of reps at the center spot, as have veteran big men Chris Boucher and Thaddeus Young.
Neither was able to keep up with Vucevic, however, as he led the way for the Bulls en route to their 20th win of the season.
