Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, March 21st, 2022 

Venue:  United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Bulls -4

Fanduel:  Spread:  Bulls -4

BetMGM:  Spread: Bulls -4.5

Bulls: 41-29 5th place, Eastern Conference

Raptors: 39-31 7th place Eastern  Conference

A great Eastern Conference matchup to cap off a fun NBA Monday Night!  This is a great betting opportunity as well.  As the season winds down we enter the “sprint phase”.  The eastern Conference is so bottle necked at the top with quality basketball teams popping up everywhere.  #1 Miami and #2 Philly are jostling for position against each other this same Monday night… but the more complete battle is Toronto vs Chicago.  These two teams are bottle necked with the Cavaliers in the 5, 6,7 spots.  When the season ends whoever is sitting in the 7 spot will have to play a play-in game just to keep their playoffs alive and when/if that team wins and stays they will immediately have to play either Miami or Philly in the first round.  Seems cruel.  Yet if they can go on a couple small runs with just ¾ of a month left to go… They can avoid all that noise and get their legs under them.  Since the New Year the Raptors have played like a new team… rising from the 10th spot to the 7th.  The addition of rookie Scottie Barnes in the offseason has had the result of a major makeover.  Scottie is growing into the team’s future star and occasionally plays like their current star.  Adding him to a line-up that already had PF Pascal Siakim and PG Fred VanVleet has turned them back into contenders… even though Kawhi left, even though Gasol is gone, even though Kyle Lowry is in Miami… The Raptors are now the new-look Raptors and the new-look Raptors are a good team in search of a true Big Man.  This year’s offseason will most likely involve GM Masai Ujiri pulling the trigger on a trade of several of Toronto’s extra power forwards for a real big man… plus the signing or drafting of another big man… Once the team has that?  The Chicago Bulls were this season’s surprise good team.  They even occupied the #1 spot in the East for awhile.  The problem lately is they have had a rash of season changing injuries that has sapped their depth… which was their strength.  SF DeMar DeRozan is a legitimate MVP candidate even though he will not win.  Center Nikola Vucevic is the second best Nikola in the league.  SG Zach LaVine has maintained his top-level play while allowing DeMar to take the alpha spot.  The problem with the Bulls that knocked them out of the #1 spot and dropped them all the way to 5th is PG Lonzo Ball and SG Alex Caruso!  Both guys joined the Bulls in the offseason through different methods… and both guys played fantastic… They provided instant and fantastic depth… then they both got hurt.. Multiple times… then Zach LaVine got hurt and got better… then Nikola Vucevic got hurt and got better.  It was all confusing.  The result was that the Bulls are still a mystery. Caruso is just barely back now… Lonzo will be back… Once fully healthy the Bulls may attack the playoffs as a completely different team. Right now they need the wins to keep the 5th spot.

The Toronto Raptors have won 6 of their last 10 games.  They will play Philadelphia tonight before the Chicago game on Monday night.  That might leave them exhausted… but Toronto desperately needs the Philadelphia game to get past the idea that they are one of the very few teams to lose to the terrible Los Angeles Lakers in their last game. LeBron James hung 36 on Toronto… but they also let Russell Westbrook drop 22.  The loss should land entirely on Nick Nurse.  Anyone else would have seemingly realized that rookie Scottie Barnes should have been on Westbrook the entire time.  The Lakers' front line is so bad that any one of the Raptors bench players could have played SF while Scottie could have been at the SG and forced Russell into panic play and bad shots.  What was Nick Nurse worried about… Austin Reeves?  Stanley Johnson?... It was a serious gaffe.  PG Fred VanVleet has been scheduled for a night off during the 76ers matchup tonight.  He will roll into the game against the Bulls well rested and ready to go.  He will also have a huge game since the Bulls have yet to switch out rookie PG Ayo Dosunmu for Alex Caruso and they won’t make the change this soon after getting Caruso back from the injury list.  The problem the Raptors will face against the Bulls will be at Center where the Raptors are completely weak. The Raptors rotate undersized, under talented Khem Birch, Precious Anchiuwa, and Chris Boucher at starting center when all three guys are better suited to be backup power forwards in the league.  Masai Ujiri needs to pick one and jettison the other two soon.  My vote is to keep Chris Boucher… but I don’t get a vote.

The Chicago Bulls have won just 2 of their last ten games.  They only wnet 1-9 ATS during that stretch.  During the freefall they have missed games from C Nikola Vucevic, SG Zach LaVine, SG Alex Caruso, and of course PG Lonzo Ball (who is still out).  The team’s lack of success has single-handedly taken away any real shot of DeMar DeRozan winning the MVP.  He still has the numbers, but the losing counts.  The Bulls have 3 games in a row. Their last win was against Cleveland, but the only thing that win did was serve to break up the 6-game losing streak that preceded it.  The Raptors see the Bulls struggle and are salivating!  If the Bulls drop this game to the Raptors?... The Bulls could wake up in 6th place… only ½ game above the Raptors.  The Bulls lost their last game to the Phoenix Suns.. which is understandable, but not in the 27 point fashion that they did.  The Suns had big games from Booker and Ayton of course… but the Bulls had ZERO players get 20 points.  DeMar DeRozan was the Bulls high scorer with only 19 points.  Zach Lavine shot the ball terribly 1-7, while Alex Caruso was invisible mostly… and rookie Ayo Dosunmu NEEDS a break! In 30 minutes Dosunmu had 4 points on 1-9 shooting, 0-3 from 3-point land and 0-0 from the charity stripe.  Dosunmu has hit the rookie wall very hard and Chaicago is refusing to acknowledge it!  Sit him, thank him, and let the poor boy recharge!  Play Cpby White at PG for a few games until Lonzo Returns… Yes, I know Coby at point guard isn;t that effective… but Ayo is spent!

It was "brooms out" on Saturday as Power Sports delivered a 5-0 SWEEP! We all know that Power is *ON FIRE* w/ NBA sides right now (29-13-1 L43 after yday's win on Detroit!). But he's also won his L3 NBA totals! Furthermore, he was 2 for 2 with yday's NCAA totals, including a 38-point WINNER with the 10*! What are you waiting for? Get Powers Sports' picks!   You can discover the best  picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Toronto is 39-31 on the season, but 40-30 ATS.  They have logged 36 Overs and 34 Unders.  They are 22-15 in road games.

Chicago is 41-29 on the season, but 37-32-1 ATS.  They have notched 34 Overs, 35 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 25-10 in home games.

The Raptors are 19th in scoring with 109.0 ppg, 11th in rebounds with 45.2 per game, and 18th in AST/TO ratio with 1.7.  On defense they rank 10th while holding opponents to 107.5 ppg.

The Bulls are 10th in scoring with 112.0 ppg, 28th in rebounds with 42.8 per game, and 8th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9. On defense they rank 16th while allowing 111.2 ppg.

Our prediction for Monday, March 21st is…. Bulls 118 - Raptors 110

The Bulls are getting healthy.  The Bulls will have had some rest… Toronto will come in having list to the Lakers, then the 76ers (will happen tonight)...and then will have to face a rested Bulls team that has gotten a minute to think about a new approach. Plus we get to see SF Patrick Williams give it a go… That solves the Ayo Dosunmu problem.  LaVine and DeRozan can play  the guard spots while Williams gets his feet wet at the SF.  It’s a big win if Patrick can give Chicago 25+ minutes a night.

Don't miss our champion handicappers' Free NBA Picks and Premium Selections every day here at Bigal.com. Just click on Shop Picks for our Best Bets, or click on Shop Subscriptions to join for a week or a month. And if you enjoyed this Raptors/Bulls Preview, be sure to bookmark Bigal.com for our daily Game Previews and Predictions.  Get help with all your college football picks, National Football league, NCAA brackets, or any prop bets on your season schedule.
 

(will update later tonight when numbers settle)

Raptors: SF OG Anunoby (finger) Out ** DG David Johnson (knee) Out

Bulls: PG Lonzo Ball (knee) Out ** SF Patrick Williams (wrist) Prob

Raptors: SF Scottie Barnes, PF Pascal Siakam, C Khem Birch, PG Fred VanVleet, SG Gary Trent Jr

Bulls: SF DeMar DeRozan, PF Devontae Green, C Nikola Vucevic, SG Zach LaVine, PG Ayo Dosunmu

Bulls: Billy Donovan

Raptors: Nick Nurse