Toronto Beat Chicago by 43. Kawhi's Return Wasn't Even the Whole Story.

Toronto didn't just beat Chicago in its opener. The Raptors ran the Bulls out of the building, 135–92. Forty-three points. That is the kind of final score that makes you check whether somebody accidentally posted a preseason result. Nope. This one counts.

Kawhi Leonard led Toronto with 23 points, six rebounds and four steals. The reunion storyline writes itself, but I don't want the entire recap to become a nostalgia piece. Toronto put up 135 because the offense generated scoring well beyond Kawhi's individual total, while Chicago couldn't keep up.

Immanuel Quickley finished with seven assists, and Collin Murray-Boyles grabbed eight rebounds. Those aren't headline-grabbing numbers on their own, but they matter when you're looking at a team that consistently controlled the flow of a game.

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Chicago's Matas Buzelis scored 17 and Jalen Smith had 15 points with eight rebounds. Josh Giddey handed out six assists. Those contributions don't erase a 43-point loss, but they tell you who at least produced something on a night when very little went right.

Here's what bothers me about Chicago: an opener is supposed to show what you've worked on all summer. Losing happens. Getting beat by 43 means your transition defense, half-court execution and ability to respond to runs all deserve immediate review. One game doesn't define a season, but the film is going to be ugly.

Toronto should enjoy the result without confusing it for a championship declaration. The Raptors had the better shot-making, defensive activity and energy. Kawhi's four steals are a useful symbol of that pressure, but it was a team-wide beating, not a one-man rescue mission.

My take? If you're Chicago, you don't burn the tape and call it a bad night. You watch every possession and figure out why you couldn't stop the bleeding. If you're Toronto, you bottle the intensity and try to reproduce it against an opponent that's actually ready to punch back.

The Raptors earned a convincing first win. The Bulls now have a basic question to answer: can they compete with NBA-level physicality and focus for 48 minutes? On this evidence, they weren't close.

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Here's the detail that really explains 135–92: Chicago committed 27 turnovers, and Toronto turned them into 35 points. That isn't a normal bad shooting night. That's handing your opponent free offense over and over while failing to get back and protect the basket.

Toronto also recorded 15 steals, four from Kawhi. Leonard didn't even shoot particularly well — 5-for-17 from the field and 2-for-6 from three — but he was perfect on 11 free throws. He contributed without needing a vintage efficient scoring night. That matters because a 43-point win built around only one hot scorer would be less convincing.

Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley scored 23 apiece, matching Kawhi. RJ Barrett added 20. Four players reaching at least 20 points is what makes this result feel like a team identity rather than a star homecoming. Toronto's ball movement and pressure gave Chicago multiple problems to solve, and the Bulls solved basically none of them.

Chicago made four threes in 36 attempts. Four. That's 11.1 percent from deep. Norman Powell made two of them. The rest of the roster combined for two made threes. When you shoot that poorly, you have to protect the ball and find points near the rim. The Bulls instead kept coughing it up.

Rookie Caleb Wilson scored 16, but he also committed nine turnovers in his NBA debut. That doesn't mean the kid can't play. It means he got a brutal introduction to the speed and pressure of a regular-season defense. Chicago's coaching staff has to put him in spots where he can attack without being asked to make every read under pressure.

Toronto scored 43 in the first quarter. Chicago had 44 at halftime. Think about that. One team needed 12 minutes to nearly match what the other produced in 24. My problem with the Bulls isn't that Kawhi returned and had a nice moment; it's that the game was effectively out of hand before they established any offensive rhythm.

Toronto deserves praise for keeping its foot on the gas. But I'm more interested in whether the Raptors can repeat the defensive pressure when the opponent actually takes care of the basketball. Chicago has to clean up the basics immediately. You cannot compete in this league giving away 27 possessions and shooting like that.