basketball | Sreda, April 12, 2023 10:46 AM (Revised at: Sreda, April 12, 2023 10:47 AM)

Toronto Raptors vs Chicago Bulls Bet Builder Tips: Low-Scoring Duel Expected On Wednesday Night

Sam Cox

Toronto Raptors vs Chicago Bulls Bet Builder: Wednesday, April 12th

After they both finished the regular season strongly, the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors meet up in a win-or-go-home game on Wednesday night. The pressure is on from the jump for the nine and 10 seeds. The winner is rewarded with a Friday game against the Miami Heat, with the victor from that contest facing the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Toronto won the regular season series 2-1, with their lone loss coming in a game Pascal Siakam missed. Zach LaVine was unavailable for one of Chicago’s losses. The most indicative matchup is the February contest, where both teams were pretty much at full strength and Toronto ran out winners at Scotiabank Arena.

The Raps are five-point favourites for this game with homecourt advantage. They went 27-14 at home this season, and covered in 63.6% of games as a home favourite. Chicago was 15-12-1 ATS as a road dog.

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Toronto Raptors vs Chicago Bulls Preview
Toronto Raptors vs Chicago Bulls Bet Builder

Toronto Raptors vs Chicago Bulls Preview

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While others eased off down the stretch, Toronto and Chicago continued to compete as they tussled for Play-In positioning. The Bulls rested their stars for the final couple of games, but they still wrapped up the year with a 9-6 record in their last 15. The Raptors matched that win-loss mark, and finished with the fourth-best net rating over the period.

Both of these teams play at a slow pace. Sometimes clunky in the halfcourt, the Raptors look to Siakam and Fred VanVleet, while DeMar DeRozan and LaVine are the key men for the road team.

Defence is the real strength here, however. Chicago had the third-best defensive rating over the final 15, and were elite on that end all year despite carrying several subpar defenders.

Toronto was fifth in defensive rating across the last 15 games. Their defensive efficiency with Jakob Poeltl on the floor would be the league’s best defence.

Toronto Raptors vs Chicago Bulls Bet Builder

Postseason basketball tends to slow down. Chicago is already allergic to getting out in transition, and does not convert fast-break opportunities well. Toronto likes to run. The hosts will need to get some easy points on the break, given the effectiveness of the Bulls’ defence in the halfcourt.

The total is set at 213.5 for this one, but we feel more comfortable nudging it up to 220.5. All three regular season meetings went under that alternate number.

The outcome of this game is hard to call. Chicago has been trending in the right direction, and there is uncertainty in Toronto with VanVleet heading for free agency and Nick Nurse reportedly on the way out. Still, it will be a great atmosphere in Scotiabank Arena. The Raps have played a lot of good basketball themselves since acquiring Poeltl.

We can’t see a blowout here. Back the Bulls to keep it respectable at the very least. It’s going to be hard for Toronto to win by 14 or more if it’s as slow-paced as we’re projecting.