Game Thread: Toronto Raptors @ Chicago Bulls

It seems almost cruel to ask the Toronto Raptors to take part in one last back-to-back, with their playoff hopes out of reach and the team firmly not in the last-minute seeding sweepstakes taking over much of the league. That’s the situation they find themselves in, though, as they take on the Bulls tonight (and the Mavericks tomorrow).

There are stakes on one side of the United Center court. Chicago still has a long shot hope of making the postseason, sitting two games back in the loss column of Washington and the ten-seed. They need everything to go right from here on out, though, and that includes a win over Toronto.

They’ll have better odds thanks to the Raptors’ injury report. All of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, and OG Anunoby will sit out tonight — basically the four most productive players on the team this season. It looked earlier in the day that that group would include Chris Boucher, but he was upgraded throughout Thursday and will now come off the bench. Aron Baynes is also probable to play in this one.

For more on the matchup, check out Joseph Strauss’ preview from this morning. Here are the details.

Where to Watch

TSN, 8 PM ET

Lineups

Toronto — Malachi Flynn, Jalen Harris, Stanley Johnson, Yuta Watanabe, Khem Birch

Chicago — Coby White, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams, Thaddeus Young, Nikola Vucevic

Injuries

Toronto — Aron Baynes (foot – probable), Kyle Lowry (rest – OUT), Fred VanVleet (hip – OUT), Pascal Siakam (shoulder – OUT), OG Anunoby (calf – OUT), Paul Watson (knee – OUT), Rodney Hood (hand – OUT)

Chicago — Tomas Satoransky (ankle – questionable), Troy Brown (ankle – OUT), Daniel Theis (hip - OUT)