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Raptors look to gain play-in separation from Bulls on TSN

Fred VanVleet Toronto Raptors Fred VanVleet - The Canadian Press
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The Toronto Raptors will continue their playoff push on Tuesday on home court against the Chicago Bulls.

You can watch the game LIVE on TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT.

The Raptors enter Tuesday's ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 30-32 record. Toronto is a game-and-a-half ahead of the Bulls, who are currently sitting outside the play-in picture, a half-game back of the Washington Wizards for the final spot.

Toronto saw their four-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a 118-93 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but will look to continue their run of success since the trade deadline against the Bulls.

The Raptors elected to keep their roster intact, adding Jakob Poeltl, at the deadline rather than moving any of their top pending unrestricted free agents. The Raptors are 7-3 in the month of February and 4-2 since the trade deadline.

After missing the team's previous three games, Fred VanVleet appears set to return to Toronto's lineup on Tuesday.

VanVleet, who was out for personal reasons following the the birth of his third child, is averaging 19.7 points, 6.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 50 games this season.

His return brings the Raptors back to full strength, which has been a rarity for the club this season.

The Bulls enter Tuesday game coming off back-to-back wins in what has been a streaky season for the club. Their current run comes after a six-game losing skid, which was preceded by a three-game winning streak.

Familiar face DeMar DeRozan is back in Toronto for yet another meeting with former franchise. Traded by the Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs in the Kawhi Leonard deal in in 2018, DeRozan leads the Bulls this season with an average of 25.3 points per game.

The 33-year-old has been held to 29 total points in two meetings with the Raptors this season -- a back-to-back series the two teams split in November.