Home, sweet home! The Chicago Bulls are finally back at the United Center on Tuesday night when they host the Toronto Raptors. The last time Chicago was the home team, they beat the Philadelphia 76ers. That was on January 29th.
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It has been more than two weeks since the Bulls had the luxury of being the home team and it couldn’t come a moment too soon.
Chicago went 2-4 on their extended road trip, picking up a big win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and pushing themselves further from an extra first-round draft pick by once again beating the Sacramento Kings. The Bulls are currently in a slump that has lasted the past three games. It’s only natural that they lose to the Golden State Warriors, most teams do that. However, they also dropped games at the Phoenix Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Of course, Jimmy Butler has been missing for most of the games on this road trip with a heel injury. He did participate in practice, so that’s a very good thing. Chicago was also without Dwyane Wade, Paul Zipser and Nikola Mirotic on Sunday against the Wolves. Wade is doubtful with his wrist injury. Both Zipser and Mirotic are also doubtful, Niko didn’t practice on Monday and Zipser is also unlikely to participate with his ankle injury.
They’ll be taking on the Raptors, a team they’ve basically owned for the last several years. They’re currently on a double-diigit win streak against Toronto. It must be great for the confidence of the Raptors to see the Bulls in the middle of a losing skid and likely facing them without three players who figure into the Chicago rotation.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan continue to be the keys to success for the Raptors. DeRozan has led Toronto scoring in each of the last three games, Lowry has the led the team in assists in each of those games. And yet, the Raptors are on a two-game skid of their own, also losing the Timberwolves and then to the Detroit Pistons.
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This game probably doesn’t mean much for Toronto’s season, but they have to want to beat this Bulls team after literal years of frustration. For Chicago, a win would go a long way to helping them get back on track heading into the All-Star break.
Matchup: Chicago Bulls (26-29) vs. Toronto Raptors (32-23)
When: 7:00 p.m. CST
Where: United Center, Chicago, IL
TV: CSN-Chicago
Radio: WLS-AM 890/WRTO 1200 (ESP)