DeMar DeRozan is going home.
Thanks to Boston running the Raptors out of the gym on Friday night, the Bulls will officially head to Toronto on Wednesday, playing in the No. 10 at No. 9 play-in game in hopes of advancing and trying to fight for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
“Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,’’ DeRozan said of playing the win-or-go-home game in Toronto. “It would be very exciting … it would be real cool.’’
Now it’s the Bulls’ reality.
It’s a place DeRozan knows very well, spending the first nine seasons up north, after the Raptors made the former USC standout the No. 9 overall pick in the 2009 draft. When he was traded to San Antonio after the 2018 season, he admittedly was in tears, never wanting to leave the franchise.
Now, he’ll have a chance to exact some revenge. Not that it will be easy, especially with how well the Raptors played the Bulls in two games up in Toronto earlier this season. The Bulls did beat Toronto in Chicago back in November, losing the season series 2-1.
The common theme in all three of those games? When the Bulls kept the athletic Raptors frontline off the glass they were in good shape. When they were outrebounded – like they were in the last meeting 47-35, including allowing 19 offensive rebounds – they took the L.
The Bulls have more experience in the starting lineup, but will be facing a team that is athletic and plays with urgency. Not exactly a great matchup with the way this Bulls roster is constructed.
First things first, however, and that meant a strange game in Dallas on Friday, in which both teams were resting most of the star power, as the Bulls pulled out the win 115-112.
Dallas sat Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood, while the Bulls sat Zach LaVine, DeRozan and Patrick Beverley, while playing Alex Caruso in limited action.
It made somewhat sense for the Bulls (39-42), considering there was nothing they could gain with the outcome. The decision made by the Mavs was a bit more confusing, considering they began the day still in the mix for a play-in spot.
But they also started the day tied with the Bulls for the 10th-best lottery odds, and owed the Knicks a top 10 protected pick for the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
It came very late in the season, but Dallas decided trying to protect future draft assets was more important than trying to make a run for a play-in spot, and then hope for a playoff run. Basically, they chose the opposite path the Bulls front office did.
What that looked like was a starting five of Luka Doncic – who played into the second quarter only – as well as Frank Ntilikina, Reggie Bullock, Dwight Powell and Jaden Hardy, while Bulls coach Billy Donovan marched out Caruso, Patrick Williams, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu.
Vucevic did play into the third quarter, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The player that really stood out in the extended minutes, however, was White, who not only scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting, but handed out 11 assists and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Bulls will finish the regular season off Sunday at the United Center when Detroit comes to town, and then they will push all the playoff chips on the table with the game in Toronto.
Not exactly what the organization was hoping for when the season began, but they only had themselves to blame.
“Obviously, at this point in time you would want to be in a situation where you know you are one of those top six seeds, where you are not trying to get into the playoffs,’’ Donovan said. “It is what it is, and we’ll have to deal with it.’’