Toronto Raptors vs. Chicago Bulls
Sunday April 8, 2007 – Air Canada Centre

Mitchell

When the game was tied at 67 late in the third, you guys went on an extended run. What did you see that really opened it up for you guys?
We just kept moving the ball. We were getting the same shots in the first half and we just started making shots. We liked the shots we were getting in the first half, we just weren’t making them. We felt like we would eventually make those especially at home.

Thoughts on Joey Graham…
Joey played well. We knew that for us to win tonight Joey was going to be important in what we had to do because Deng (Luol) has just manhandled us. We feel like Joey is the most physical guy we have on the team with speed and quickness and strength that can guard him. We knew going into the game that we had to guard, to stop two out of those three guys and control them. Gordon (Ben) got his but we did a good job on Deng and Hinrich (Kirk).

On defensive adjustments made in the second half…
We put T.J. (Ford) on Gordon (Ben) in the second half for a little more quickness and we put a little more length on Hinrich (Kirk). Joey (Graham), Chris (Bosh), Rasho (Nesterovic), Kris Humphries just rebounded the ball and they helped. I thought Anthony Parker played as a good a complete game, offensively and defensively as he’s played all year. It’s just a good win for us. That is a good basketball team. I’ve been saying to you guys all along our guys have been focused. They understand what we are trying to accomplish. We talked about this earlier, once you start winning, winning breeds confidence and we are playing with a lot of confidence.

Bosh

CHRIS BOSH

Thoughts on beating a playoff contending team?
It was a very big win for us. We had our home crowd behind us. It is a team that we could see in the playoffs so we just wanted to set the tone and show people that we are very serious about protecting this home court.

Does this victory send a message?
I think so. We know that when we move the ball and play good team defence we are tough to beat. We just want to focus on rebounding and all the little things that help us win games. We have to make sure that we play close attention to detail.

It seems that there was an effort to get to the free throw line today?
It was a very physical game today but after a while the refs start calling fouls. We started boxing them out pretty well and they started going over our backs. We just got more aggressive as the game went on. We converted on the free throw line and that was big for us.

Parker

ANTHONY PARKER

How is your experience as a Euro League MVP coming into play now?
It’s a different game. The situation is the same. We are fighting for spots and it’s the same over there. I found my niche on the team and I think everybody is kind of finding their role and what they can do to contribute. That is why in spurts we play as well as we do.

Big game tomorrow against Minnesota as well…
Another tough game, the end of a back-to-back on the road. We are just going to come out and be mentally tough. Those games are about mental toughness and everyone is going to be banged up a little bit but we just got to fight through it because we are playing for something.

Skiles

Thoughts on the game…
We could tell right from the beginning of the game tonight that we weren’t as sharp as we’ve been anyway in general and we had more breakdowns. But, you know, we came out at the half and had a nice lead and then just hurt ourselves with turnovers and then we started fouling and they (Toronto) were able to gain momentum and we couldn’t do anything at that point.

Were the Bulls tired in the 3rd quarter?…
I don’t know why we would be tired. It is possible. Like I said, we were concerned right at the beginning of the game we just didn’t seem to have the same ‘pop’ we’ve had recently and when we got the lead we kind of felt it was tenuous right then, and like I said, once they (Toronto) got the momentum, we just staggered and couldn’t do anything.

Thoughts on Raptors play without Andrea Bargnani and Jorge Garbajosa?…
Well, those guys (Bargnani, Garbajosa) make it even more difficult. But, you know, they have a lot of enthusiasm. You can tell they really enjoy playing together. They have good chemistry and that’s 95 per cent of the battle in the NBA right now. Just going out and playing hard and having energy all the time – and they do.

Knight

Thoughts on the game…
They are a team that is capable of playing really well on any given night and can beat any team in the NBA. (Anthony) Parker is a great shooter, he got a lot of open looks tonight and Chris Bosh knocked down some tough shots.

You seemed to have the momentum going into the half, but came up empty in the third quarter…
Yes, I don’t know what it was, our defense wasn’t good enough, our ball handling was shaky and we really didn’t take care of the ball and it cost us.

Tough loss, with Cleveland already losing today…
Yes, every game is an opportunity, especially when other teams are ahead of us or right behind us lose. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do tonight.

Thoughts on possibly playing the Raptors in the playoffs…
I definitely wouldn’t under estimate them going into the playoffs, they are a really good team. They have a lot of good individual players and they play well, they play with a lot of energy. It seems like everybody knows their role on the team and they just play off of each other.

Hinrich

What happened in the third quarter?
The game just got away from us I think, we weren’t executing very well at either end of the floor. They are a good offensive team and they made shots. You have to give them credit.

Thoughts on the game…
We didn’t get it done tonight, so the best thing about it is we have another chance on Tuesday to regroup and hopefully get a win.

What do you think of the Raptors chances in the playoffs?
They are definitely a dangerous team, they do a good job of playing together and they have good players, so I expect them to be very dangerous here in a couple of weeks.