Kawhi Leonard made his Toronto return a memorable one, and the Raptors turned it into a runaway.
Leonard scored 23 points Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams, while Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley also finished with 23 as Toronto crushed the Chicago Bulls 135-92. RJ Barrett chipped in 20, Ja’Kobe Walter added 10, and the Raptors controlled the night from the opening minutes, never giving Chicago a lead.
Leonard’s shot line was uneven - he went 5 for 17 from the floor and 2 of 6 from 3-point range - but he was perfect at the stripe, making all 11 free throws. He also made his presence felt on defense, grabbing four of Toronto’s 15 steals before sitting down with 8:12 left in the fourth quarter.
Toronto didn’t just win; it buried Chicago with pressure and pace. The Bulls turned the ball over 27 times, and those mistakes became 35 Raptors points. Rookie Caleb Wilson had nine turnovers in his NBA debut, a rough night in a game where Chicago never found any rhythm.
The first quarter told the story fast. Toronto poured in 43 points, nearly matching what the Bulls managed in the entire first half, when Chicago had only 44. By then, the game already looked out of reach.
For Chicago, Matas Buzelis led the way with 17 points. Wilson finished with 16, while Norman Powell and Jaylin Smith each scored 15.
But the Bulls never found the outside shooting to keep up, finishing just 4 for 36 from 3-point range. Powell, who went 2 of 6, was the only Chicago player to knock down more than one 3.
Leonard’s return had its own early jolt. He hit a 3 on his first shot, then missed his next eight attempts before finally breaking the drought with a pull-up jumper late in the second quarter.
Leonard was traded from San Antonio to Toronto before the 2018-19 season and helped deliver the franchise’s NBA championship that year before moving on to the LA Clippers. Toronto later reacquired him in an offseason trade after a salary cap-circumvention scandal that led to massive sanctions against the Clippers.
Former NBA star Serge Ibaka
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Serge Ibaka Just Made Kawhi Leonards Raptors Return Feel Bigger
Kawhi Leonards first regular-season game back in a Raptors uniform already carried enough weight on its own, with Toronto welcoming him in after the trade from the Los Angeles Clippers and the contract extension that followed. He made the night feel routine only in the best way, scoring 23 points and going a perfect 11-for-11 at the line as the Raptors handled the Chicago Bulls.
Serge Ibaka being in the building added another layer to the moment, since the former Raptors big man had a clear view of what Leonards return meant beyond the box score. For a team that still remembers exactly what Leonard brought during his previous run in Toronto, the sight of him back on the floor seemed to underline just how much bigger this homecoming could become. [Read more 🡒]
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Kawhi Leonard also put up 23 points, but his night came with a less efficient shooting line, finishing 5 of 17 from the field. For a Raptors team already carrying plenty of questions about how its top pieces fit together, the opener only sharpened the conversation: the talent is obvious, but the exact hierarchy and stylistic balance are still very much something to watch as the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Hand Bulls A Brutal Reality Check To Open The Season
The Bulls were left dealing with a brutal opening-night lesson after Toronto turned their season opener into a runaway loss and exposed problems on both ends of the floor. Chicago finished with more turnovers than assists, and the kind of sloppiness that can be hidden in the preseason quickly became impossible to ignore once the games started counting.
For a team in the middle of a rebuilding process, the long view still matters, and the rotation reflected that approach as young players like Noa Essengue, Jaylin Sellers and Tobe Awaka got a chance to log real minutes. The challenge now is finding out whether those reps can translate into growth quickly enough to keep the Bulls from carrying one discouraging performance into the rest of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]