NBA: Bulls vs Raptors Prediction, Odds and Picks (Apr 12)

• The Bulls and Raptors face off in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
• The winner advances to face the loser of the Hawks-Heat.
• The loser sees their season end.

The Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors face off in the Play-In Tournament. The winner moves on to face the Hawks-Heat loser, and the loser of this game goes home. The spot up for grabs here is the 8-seed and a first-round matchup against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jump to:

• Schedule and How to Watch
• Vegas Odds
• Team News and Preview
• Our Prediction

How to Watch

• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
• When: Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• How to Watch: ESPN

Odds

Game Preview

The 10-seed has never won a game since the NBA Play-In Tournament was instituted. However, this could be the year with both the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder sporting decent teams.

The Bulls, however, went 1-2 against the Raptors during the season and have been back and forth for the entire season. The Bulls are 6-4 in the last 10 games and rested a ton of players down the stretch, so they should be ready to go.

In the last meeting against Toronto, the Bulls scored just 98 points on the road with Nikola Vucevic leading the way with 23 and Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan combining for 30 points.

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The Raptors have been streaky, especially down the stretch. Since March 6, they have lost three, won three, lost two, won three, then went 3-3 to finish the season.

The Raptors do have the benefit of playing at home and have had the upper hand against the Bulls this season, so that helps. Pascal Siakam is the leading scorer with 24.2 PPG and Fred VanVleet is second with 19.3 PPG, so we can expect them to have solid games.

However, Scottie Barnes was the x-factor in the last meeting between these teams, so you can expect him to cause some problems once again.

Prediction

The Bulls have history going against them with no 10-seed ever winning this game. It could change, but Chicago also hasn’t had the best luck against Toronto this year and they have to play this one on the road.

The Raptors use strong showings from the Siakam, VanVleet, and Barnes trio, and despite a massive effort from DeRozan and LaVine, the Raptors get the win in a close game that comes down to the wire.

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