NBA
Regular Season Round 52: Chicago B. - Toronto R. 129-120
Date: December 22, 2014
It was a night that gave Dwane Casey a chance to say "I told you so" and a night he can use as a learning opportunity as the NBA season goes on and on and on. He can point to the repeated times he's said that the Raptors have been playing with fire with a modicum of attention to defence and toss a game here out as prime example. Playing the style that might beat bad teams but get you beaten by good ones, the Raptors coughed up a 129-120 decision to the Chicago Bulls, heading off into the Christmas break with much to contemplate. The Bulls shot 54 per cent from the field, the Raptors fouled too often and didn't rebound particularly well, and their six-game winning streak was snapped by a bad defensive effort. Chicago's outstanding backcourt of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler dominated, Rose had 15 of his 29 points in a wondrous fourth quarter while Butler had 27 to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Kyle Lowry tried to match Rose's output, finishing with 34 points, but he and his teammates just couldn't string together enough defensive stops to hold off the Bulls. Jonas Valanciunas, on a night when he set a career high with 18 field goal attempts, had 20 points for Toronto and Terrence Ross had 17. The Raptors bench, however, struggled. Patrick Patterson had 12 points and Lou Williams 12, but Greivis Vasquez was ineffective, missing six of the seven shots he took. Casey refuted any notion that the game was anything more than another in the marathon season. It remains just an outing a third of the way through the year and despite the opposition, he'd only go as far as to suggest it was more measuring stick than statement game. "(Sunday's) New York game was just as important to us as tonight, tonight's an important game, one, it's our first game of a long road trip and it's a conference game, but I wouldn't say it was a statement game," he said. "It'll let us know where we are, let us know what we need to work on. I would say it's not fair to us totally … not having DeMar (DeRozan) would be a better measuring stick of who we are and where we are." The teams didn't treat it as anything special at the start, playing for long stretches like it was a run in the park rather than a grind-it-out defensive affair, especially in the first half. Neither team paid much attention to defence - Toronto shot 48 per cent from the field, Chicago shot 52 per cent - as the Raptors led 66-60 at the break. Valanciunas, perhaps mindful of the scorching Pau Gasol gave Toronto in a game in November, had 16 of his points in the first half, when he took 14 shots after taking no more than 12 in any one game this season. Still, there were intriguing subplots to consider no matter the style of play. For Toronto's James Johnson, it was another chance to get back at the team that originally drafted him before eventually trading him to the Raptors. Starting for a second straight game as Landry Fields once again failed a concussion test and didn't dress, Johnson had 12 of his points in the first half. A handful of them came when he was being guarded by Chicago's Jimmy Butler, whose surging play has made him an early-season lock in the most improved player race. Courtesy of: thespec.com
Terms:
Field Goals : 2PM-A (2 point Field Goal made-attempts) 3PM-A (3 point Field Goal made-attempts) FTM-A (free throws made-attempt)
Rebounds : OFF (Offensive) DEF (Defensive) TOT (total)
Fouls : CM (Committed) RV (received)
Blocks : FV (In Favor) AG (Against)
Other terms : MIN (minutes) AST (assists) ST (steals) TO (Turnovers) PTS (points) RNK (ranking)
Regular Season Round 52: Chicago B. - Toronto R. 129-120
Date: December 22, 2014
It was a night that gave Dwane Casey a chance to say "I told you so" and a night he can use as a learning opportunity as the NBA season goes on and on and on. He can point to the repeated times he's said that the Raptors have been playing with fire with a modicum of attention to defence and toss a game here out as prime example. Playing the style that might beat bad teams but get you beaten by good ones, the Raptors coughed up a 129-120 decision to the Chicago Bulls, heading off into the Christmas break with much to contemplate. The Bulls shot 54 per cent from the field, the Raptors fouled too often and didn't rebound particularly well, and their six-game winning streak was snapped by a bad defensive effort. Chicago's outstanding backcourt of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler dominated, Rose had 15 of his 29 points in a wondrous fourth quarter while Butler had 27 to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Kyle Lowry tried to match Rose's output, finishing with 34 points, but he and his teammates just couldn't string together enough defensive stops to hold off the Bulls. Jonas Valanciunas, on a night when he set a career high with 18 field goal attempts, had 20 points for Toronto and Terrence Ross had 17. The Raptors bench, however, struggled. Patrick Patterson had 12 points and Lou Williams 12, but Greivis Vasquez was ineffective, missing six of the seven shots he took. Casey refuted any notion that the game was anything more than another in the marathon season. It remains just an outing a third of the way through the year and despite the opposition, he'd only go as far as to suggest it was more measuring stick than statement game. "(Sunday's) New York game was just as important to us as tonight, tonight's an important game, one, it's our first game of a long road trip and it's a conference game, but I wouldn't say it was a statement game," he said. "It'll let us know where we are, let us know what we need to work on. I would say it's not fair to us totally … not having DeMar (DeRozan) would be a better measuring stick of who we are and where we are." The teams didn't treat it as anything special at the start, playing for long stretches like it was a run in the park rather than a grind-it-out defensive affair, especially in the first half. Neither team paid much attention to defence - Toronto shot 48 per cent from the field, Chicago shot 52 per cent - as the Raptors led 66-60 at the break. Valanciunas, perhaps mindful of the scorching Pau Gasol gave Toronto in a game in November, had 16 of his points in the first half, when he took 14 shots after taking no more than 12 in any one game this season. Still, there were intriguing subplots to consider no matter the style of play. For Toronto's James Johnson, it was another chance to get back at the team that originally drafted him before eventually trading him to the Raptors. Starting for a second straight game as Landry Fields once again failed a concussion test and didn't dress, Johnson had 12 of his points in the first half. A handful of them came when he was being guarded by Chicago's Jimmy Butler, whose surging play has made him an early-season lock in the most improved player race. Courtesy of: thespec.com
 CHICAGO B. (coach: Billy Donovan)129 |
| FIELD GOALS | REBOUNDS | FOULS | BLOCKS | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | NAME | MIN | 2PM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | RB | AS | F | RV | ST | FV | AG | TO | PT | RNK | +/- |
| 86 | muUlRQ, zaBBF | 33 | 0-64 (42.0%) | 8-4 (11.9%) | 66-66 (655%) | 4 | 2 | 66 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 89 | 49 | 5 |
| 6 | eIsR, gRQQaZV | 46 | 68-61 (90%) | 5-4 (5%) | 0-1 (24.4%) | 5 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 87 | 84 | 5 |
| 64 | XIih, zIiVaB | 45 | 3-3 (655%) | 5-5 (5%) | 1-2 (90%) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 63 | 61 | 5 |
| 61 | GisIl, Oiu | 87 | 8-9 (82.1%) | 5-5 (5%) | 65-65 (655%) | 4 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 63 | 69 | 5 |
| 5 | mQIIVs, SiQIj | 80 | 0-2 (18.0%) | 6-8 (05%) | 3-3 (655%) | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 69 | 61 | 5 |
| 43 | gujlRiLF, baVR zQ. | 84 | 5-4 (5%) | 6-6 (655%) | 5-5 (5%) | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| 68 | HajQaZh, KaQV | 86 | 5-5 (5%) | 6-8 (05%) | 5-5 (5%) | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| 33 | baQIUaZ, XaVIli | 62 | 6-6 (655%) | 6-6 (655%) | 9-2 (29.0%) | 6 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 68 | 65 | 5 |
| 88 | GaMsIj, win | 62 | 0-65 (05%) | 5-5 (5%) | 5-5 (5%) | 3 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 65 | 64 | 5 |
| wIUil | 43-18 (03.2%) | 1-68 (05.5%) | 34-39 (76.0%) | 68 | 87 | 36 | 85 | 85 | 5 | 3 | 64 | 5 | 60 | 687 | 643 | |||
 TORONTO R. (coach: Darko Rajakovic)120 |
| FIELD GOALS | REBOUNDS | FOULS | BLOCKS | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | NAME | MIN | 2PM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | RB | AS | F | RV | ST | FV | AG | TO | PT | RNK | +/- |
| 9 | vITQF, KFlR | 49 | 2-63 (09.6%) | 3-2 (05%) | 1-65 (15%) | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 83 | 5 |
| 46 | eIss, wRQQRjZR | 40 | 6-0 (85%) | 0-66 (30.0%) | 5-5 (5%) | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 69 | 9 | 5 |
| 69 | kilijZaujis, zIjis | 44 | 2-62 (33.3%) | 5-5 (5%) | 3-1 (11.9%) | 3 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 85 | 64 | 5 |
| 4 | zIhjsIj, ziBRs | 44 | 9-7 (99.2%) | 5-6 (5%) | 8-8 (655%) | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 61 | 61 | 5 |
| 03 | OiUURQsIj, OiUQaZV | 45 | 0-9 (96.3%) | 5-4 (5%) | 8-3 (05%) | 9 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 68 | 68 | 5 |
| 84 | WallaiBs, vIuas | 81 | 4-1 (05%) | 5-3 (5%) | 1-1 (655%) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 68 | 9 | 5 |
| 60 | zIhjsIj, SBaQ | 62 | 6-1 (61.9%) | 5-5 (5%) | 5-5 (5%) | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
| 86 | kisEuRJ, GQRaLas | 60 | 6-3 (80%) | 5-4 (5%) | 5-5 (5%) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | -8 | 5 |
| 33 | HiFRs, ChuZV | 2 | 6-6 (655%) | 5-5 (5%) | 5-5 (5%) | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
| 05 | HijsMQIuDh, wFlRQ | 0 | 5-5 (5%) | 5-5 (5%) | 4-3 (90%) | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
| wIUil | 40-95 (05.5%) | 7-45 (45.5%) | 84-48 (96.7%) | 62 | 67 | 49 | 60 | 45 | 5 | 65 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 685 | 24 | |||
Terms:
Field Goals : 2PM-A (2 point Field Goal made-attempts) 3PM-A (3 point Field Goal made-attempts) FTM-A (free throws made-attempt)
Rebounds : OFF (Offensive) DEF (Defensive) TOT (total)
Fouls : CM (Committed) RV (received)
Blocks : FV (In Favor) AG (Against)
Other terms : MIN (minutes) AST (assists) ST (steals) TO (Turnovers) PTS (points) RNK (ranking)
