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The Toronto Raptors are 1-0 after beating the Chicago Bulls 135-92 inside Scotiabank Arena.
The Raptors dominated from the opening tip and led wire to wire as they pulled out their first win of the season, flexing their dominance on the rebuilding Bulls. Here's a look at the winners and losers from the matchup.
The Raptors got off to a strong offensive start, things to point guard Immanuel Quickley, who had 17 points in the first half. Quickley finished the contest with 23 on 6 of 13 shooting including 4 of 9 from downtown.
If the Raptors are truly going to take that next step as a team, Quickley is going to need to improve his offensive efficiency. A game like tonight is a good step forward in the right direction toward that improvement.
The most staggering number on the box score is the 27 turnovers the Raptors forced against the Bulls. Some of it is a result of Chicago playing in a new system with a lot of new players, but the Raptors' defence deserves a lot of credit as well. Toronto is going to take pride in its defense, and building an identity off of that.
We shouldn't expect the Raptors to play at this level of defense every night, but getting close to it will definitely help their chances of competing in the Eastern Conference.
Welcome to the NBA, Allen Graves!
The No. 19 overall pick out of Santa Clara played 19 minutes and scored five points, but also swatted a team-high three blocks. Graves proved that he can be a solid rim protector despite his size and compete with those at the next level.
There is still a lot of polish to his game that needs to happen, but he should learn that in due time. Overall, it's a solid debut from the rookie and there should be more to come throughout his first season in the league.
On a night where the team won by 43 points, the term "loser" should be taken with a grain of salt. Perhaps the right term is "needs improvement," which comes in the case of Jamal Shead, who committed a team-high four turnovers.
The Raptors kept their turnovers down altogether with just 10 total, but Shead has done a better job at taking care of the basketball in the past. Look for him to get better as the season goes on.
Overall, Leonard's debut was a success, especially given the fact that the team won by so many points. Still, Leonard could have been more efficient from the field. He made just 5 of 17 shots from the floor but also was able to get to the line 11 times, sinking all his free throws. The hope is that Leonard has just as many points off the field from free throws, but that's not what the game had in store for him this time around.
Like Shead, Leonard has better days ahead, and he probably isn't losing much sleep over this one.
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