Thanks Ravinde Rozan! You sent the Raptors home for fishing, which brought the Rockets one step closer to Nas
On April 13, Beijing time, the NBA play-offs ushered in the second matchday, and in a previously concluded Eastern Conference infight, the Chicago Bulls, who played on the road, finally defeated the Toronto Raptors 109-105 to advance to the second round of the play-offs. Next they will compete with the Miami Heat for their final ticket to the Eastern Conference playoffs! The Bulls sent the Raptors home to fish while also becoming the first 10th-seeded team in the league to win since the introduction of the play-off format in 2020-21. Previously, the No. 10-seeded team had a 0-4 record.
It wasn't easy for the Bulls to advance to the second round of the playoffs with a win over the Raptors on the road today, as they trailed the Raptors by as many as 19 points at one point in the game. But just when everyone thought the Bulls were going to be eliminated, DeRozan and LaVine stepped forward and sounded the clarion call for the team to fight back. DeRozan used a classic shot through the Raptors basket, LaVine broke through the Raptors' defense again and again, and from time to time the outside suddenly fired cold arrows that made people defenseless! The second half was completely the performance time of the two big guys, and under the leadership of DeRozan and LaVine, the Bulls played 37-24 in the final quarter and beat the Raptors by 13 points. As a result, the Bulls successfully completed a 19-point reversal and sent the Raptors home to fish.
In this game, the Bulls scored double-doubles, including LaVine shooting 12 of 22, 2 of 7 three-pointers, 13 of 15 free throws, 39 points, 6 boards, 3 assists and 1 steal; DeRozan shot 10-of-19 from the field, 3-of-5 from the free-throw line, and posted 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists; Vucevic 14+13+4; Williams 10+2+2; Caruso 9+3+2. There is no doubt that it was LaVine and DeRozan who directed this 19-point comeback! Of course, the reason why the Raptors suffered a big comeback in addition to failing to prevent DeRozan LaVine is that they made 18 of 36 free throws in the game, and if the team's free throw percentage could be slightly improved, they would not have lost so badly!
After the game, Raptors coach Nass said in an interview: "It's a difficult process, I feel sorry for my players, they played very hard and I am very sorry that they can't make the playoffs. We conceded a lot of points at the free-throw line and it was hard to win by conceding more than 10 free throws. For Nas, this will most likely be his last game in charge of the Raptors. According to previous reports, the Raptors are considering changing coaches this summer, and Nass has previously said that he will reconsider his future this summer.
Seeing Toronto being sent home by the Bulls to fish, aside from Bulls fans, is the happiest than the Houston Rockets, because it means they're one step closer to getting Nas! Missing the playoffs will inevitably intensify the Raptors' determination to change coaches, so that Nas's class will have a high probability of happening! And the Rockets have long chosen Nas as the first choice for new managers, and even though they have interviewed Atkinson, Vogel, Uduka, Borrego and Adrian Griffin, Nas is still their ideal coach.
So, thanks to LaVin, DeRozan, you led the Super Comeback to eliminate the Raptors, which gave the Rockets a lot of chances of getting Nas.