Head coach Darko Rajakovic and the Toronto Raptors achieved a wire-to-wire 139-109 victory Wednesday night over the Chicago Bulls. The first contest of a five-game road trip for Toronto saw one of the best team efforts it has had all season, with seven players scoring in double digits. 

RJ Barrett continued his impressive scoring streak in the United Center, adding 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting with three makes beyond the arc. After an underwhelming return from separate ankle and knee injuries, he has consistently been one of the Raptors’ best options offensively, averaging 22.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on 56.2% shooting and 38.6% from three over his last 11 games (via StatMuse). 

Chicago wasn’t necessarily a highly anticipated matchup for the Raptors, as they now sit at a record of 28-41 and the 12th seed in the Eastern Conference standings. Toronto’s next game, however, will be another significant test before the postseason begins, coming against the Denver Nuggets and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. 

Toronto’s Serbian coach gave the media some insight into how he plans to defend his fellow Serbian native when asked about the potential of getting standout rookie Collin Murray-Boyles back from a left thumb sprain. 

“We’re going to surprise Jokic,” said Rajakovic. “We’re going to put our point guards to guard him. We’re preparing a very special strategy against him … Having [Murray-Boyles] would be a huge help in that game.”

It may be difficult to tell in writing, but this was clearly a joke from the playful head coach. Murray-Boyles has consistently been the Raptors’ second-best defender this season behind Defensive Player of the Year candidate Scottie Barnes, and being able to have them together against the 6-foot-11, 284-pound center would prove to be a substantial benefit. 

The Nuggets, albeit just 9-12 in their last 21 games, are always a threat when the trio of Jokic, one-time All-Star Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon are on the floor together. Gordon has played just 28 games this season, primarily due to a hamstring strain that he suffered early in the year and then reaggravated down the road. He missed Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies for rest purposes, so the Raptors should expect him to be ready to go at home Friday night. 

Toronto controls its own destiny with just 14 games remaining in the regular season. While they trail the Cleveland Cavaliers by just 2.5 games for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Raptors are ahead by the same amount of games on not the sixth-seeded Orlando Magic, but the ninth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. The worst-case scenario would be for Toronto to fall into the Play-In Tournament, so these next two games in Denver and Phoenix can be highly impactful for its postseason positioning.