815-561-8255 Request Line
Watch LIVE High School Sports

Upcoming Events

Saturday, Mar 30, 8:00 AM
Saturday, Mar 30, 10:45 AM
Saturday, Mar 30, 1:45 PM
Saturday, Mar 30, 8:00 PM
Sunday, Mar 31, 8:00 AM

Social Media

Find us on Facebook Follow us on X















Bulls look to snap a 3-game losing streak tonight against Toronto

The Toronto Raptors have struggled all season to
establish a defensive identity, which has kept them from remaining
among the elite teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Chicago Bulls, meanwhile, haven't been able to create any sort
of identity, which has them holding on for their playoffs lives
entering tonight's meeting with the Raptors at the United
Center.

The Bulls have been reeling of late and are coming off a woeful
six-game road trip when they lost four of six, including the final
three games by an average of 26 points per game.

The latest loss, 117-89 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in which the
Bulls played without Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, Paul Zipser and
Nikola Mirotic, dropped Chicago (26-29) three games below .500.

Wade (wrist) and Zipser (ankle) are questionable to return for
Tuesday's game. Butler (heel contusion) will be evaluated after
Tuesday morning's team shootaround. Mirotic has experienced back
spasms that has the Bulls dealing with plenty of injuries with two
games remaining before the All-Star break.

It also hasn't helped matters as the Bulls try to figure out what's
ailing them.

Coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters after Sunday's loss that he isn't
certain if shutting Butler down for games this week against the
Raptors and Boston Celtics is the solution. He called Butler's heel
injury a day-to-day situation. Wade's wrist injury appears to be
more serious.

"Jimmy knows his body pretty well," Hoiberg said, according to the
Chicago Sun-Times. "He's comfortable that if he sits these next two
days, he'll feel significantly better."

According to the Sun-Times, Butler -- who last played in a blowout
loss to the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 10 -- wants to play if possible.

"If I can suit up, I feel like I have to do that," Butler told
reporters.

As the Bulls deal with trying to play short-handed, the Raptors --
who have lost two straight and six of their last 10 games -- are
dealing with their own issues.

Toronto (32-23) watched a 16-point fourth-quarter lead disappear in
a 102-101 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. Now they'll travel
to Chicago looking to snap a 10-game losing streak to the Bulls.

As much as the Bulls are hurting, the Raptors' defensive problems
keep hurting them with Sunday's collapse a prime example that
Toronto is still trying to work through their inability to stop
opposing teams.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry made it clear that was evident in Sunday's
loss after being asked by reporters what had gone wrong in the
final 12 minutes against the Pistons.

But Lowry, who told reporters he wanted to remain professional in
talking about his team's issues, seem to infer they extended beyond
one bad quarter.

"(We) keep getting in the same situations over and over and not
being successful," Lowry told reporters. "Something's got to give,
something's got to change."

Toronto is still missing veteran forward Patrick Patterson, who sat
out his eighth straight game Sunday with a knee injury. He has
missed 14 of the Raptors last 23 games -- a stretch when the
Raptors are 7-7 with coach Dwane Casey using a variety of fill-ins
for Patterson while his team continues to struggle with trying to
protect leads.

"I'm starting to get worried, yeah," Lowry told reporters,
according to the Globe and Mail. "It's not going the way we're
supposed to be going and things aren't changing. So yeah, I'm
starting to get worried."

Comments

Download the App Today!

Download the Apple app today
Download the Google Play app today
Closings and Cancellations
Copyright © 2024 Superhits 93.5. All Rights Reserved.
Public File
FCC Applications
Site by RiverBender.com