Gary Trent Jr. leads the way in Toronto Raptors victory over Chicago Bulls

In a matchup between two teams who are viewed as “sellers” in this NBA trade deadline, the Toronto Raptors emerge victorious over the Chicago Bulls 118-107 at the United Center behind a nice scoring game by Gary Trent Jr.

The Raptors were without their 2 acquisitions from the OG Anunoby trade, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. However, that did not stop them from winning tonight’s game. Gary Trent Jr. led the way for Toronto, scoring 24 points on 60% shooting and hitting 6 three pointers. Recently acquired Bruce Brown had an all-around game, finishing with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks on 54% shooting. Scottie Barnes had 13 points with 7 assists and Dennis Schroder had a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 10 assists.

DeMar Derozan led the way for the Bulls, as he finished with 25 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks. Derozan has scored 20 or more points in 6 of his last 8 games, and with the Bulls looking to enter a rebuild there’s a chance he might be on a new team in the next week. 3rd year guard Ayo Dosunmu scored 21 points on 73% shooting with 4 made threes, and Nikola Vucevic ended his night with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

This win improves the Raptors to 17-30, which is 12th in the Eastern Conference. They are 3 games behind the 10th seeded Atlanta Hawks, so even though they traded away 2 of their core players in Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, they still have a chance to sneak into the play-in tournament. However, they would need to build off this win, as they are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Their next game will be on Friday night against the Houston Rockets.

For the Bulls, this loss drops them to 22-26 on the season, which is 9th in the Eastern Conference. They are 2.5 games behind the 8th seeded Orlando Magic and 1.5 games above the 10th seeded Atlanta Hawks. There are many questions surrounding the Bulls, such as what they will do with their roster with the trade deadline coming up. Only time will tell, but in the meantime they are 5-5 in their last 10 games and will play the Charlotte Hornets tomorrow night.