Chicago's season began with two problems that fed each other: possessions ending without a shot and possessions ending with a missed three. Toronto turned that combination into a 135–92 victory Wednesday, leaving the Bulls with a 43-point defeat in their opening game.
The Raptors established the separation immediately. They scored 43 points in the first quarter to Chicago's 23, then extended the advantage to 69–44 by halftime. Chicago had already conceded almost as many points in one quarter as it scored across the entire first half. That opening stretch gave the Bulls little room to work through their offensive problems gradually.
Matas Buzelis led Chicago with 17 points. Rookie Caleb Wilson added 16, while Norman Powell and Jalen Smith each scored 15. Tre Jones contributed 13. Those five players supplied 76 of the Bulls' 92 points, but their production came within an offense that finished with only 27 made field goals on 85 attempts.
The most visible failure was outside shooting. Chicago made four of 36 three-point attempts, an 11.1 percent conversion rate. Powell accounted for two of the four makes. A missed three does not automatically mean a poor possession, and a single game cannot establish the quality of an entire season's shooting. Wednesday's volume and accuracy nevertheless left the Bulls trying to construct nearly all their scoring elsewhere.
Free throws provided a partial alternative. Chicago attempted 47 and made 34, compared with Toronto's 37 makes in 46 attempts. The Bulls therefore reached the line more often than the Raptors but still lost that scoring category by three points. Thirteen missed free throws added another cost to a night when made baskets were already difficult to find.
Ball security made the shooting deficit harder to overcome. Chicago committed 27 turnovers, compared with Toronto's 10. Wilson finished with nine in his NBA debut. That is a specific development issue for the rookie and a broader team issue: a shot cannot generate a basket, an offensive rebound or a trip to the line when the possession ends before the attempt.
The Raptors recorded 15 steals and 31 assists. Chicago finished with six steals and 16 assists. Those totals describe a significant difference in how the teams managed the ball, although the final box score alone cannot assign responsibility for every turnover or reveal each defensive coverage. Film review will be needed to distinguish pressured mistakes from preventable passing and handling errors.
Toronto also distributed its scoring. Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley each finished with 23 points, and RJ Barrett added 20. Ja'Kobe Walter scored 10. Four Raptors reaching 20 meant the Bulls could not address the entire problem by limiting one scorer; Toronto had several productive options throughout the lineup.
Leonard's line illustrated that the Raptors did not need every part of their offense to work perfectly. He made five of 17 field-goal attempts and two of six threes, but converted all 11 of his free throws. He also registered four steals. Toronto could absorb an inefficient shooting night from one of its leading scorers because other players scored and because it retained substantially more possessions.
Chicago's rebounding numbers offer a useful caution against treating every category as equally decisive. The Bulls collected 57 rebounds to Toronto's 51 and had a 21–16 edge on the offensive glass. Smith finished with eight rebounds. Those second chances were real, but they did not erase the combined damage from missed shots and turnovers. Winning a rebounding total did not produce a competitive final margin.
The quarter scores show that the Bulls never found a period in which to reverse the arithmetic. Toronto won the second quarter 26–21, the third 34–27 and the fourth 32–21. The halftime deficit grew to 103–71 entering the final period. Chicago was therefore trying to recover from both its opening-quarter collapse and a continuing disadvantage after the break.
For the Bulls, the immediate priorities are measurable. Fewer turnovers would preserve opportunities to score. Better three-point conversion would make the same shot volume more valuable. Improved free-throw accuracy would prevent possessions that already reached the line from losing points. Those are connected tasks, but they should be evaluated separately instead of reduced to a general demand for more effort.
One result establishes Chicago's record at 0–1; it does not establish the ceiling of a new season. It does establish the scale of the correction needed after opening night. Toronto's 43-point margin was built across all four quarters, with Chicago's possession losses and shooting struggles preventing the Bulls from mounting a sustained answer.
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