Following last night’s loss in Milwaukee, the Chicago Bulls’ playoff seed is officially locked in at tenth in the Eastern Conference. With no room to move up or down in the standings, head coach Billy Donovan was asked if that may determine how the final two games of the regular season are played. His answers were very suggestive about how they may look and where the Bulls are devoting their efforts before the decisive April 12th Play-In Tournament game. That matchup against the Atlanta Hawks or Toronto Raptors will be a win-or-go-home scenario following the regular season’s conclusion on Sunday.
Squandered Opportunity
Extreme disappointment is an understatement for how Chicago feels after these last two days and, truthfully, this entire 2022-23′ campaign. Coming into this season as a heavy favorite to make the playoffs and projected six or seven seed, sitting at tenth in the conference, and needing to win back-to-back road games to make the playoff pool is something nobody could have foreseen. The last two days provided a lifeline to a season-long struggling Bulls squad.
Sunday afternoon was arguably the best game of the season for Chicago. Finding themselves down 23 in the second quarter, they came out an entirely different team in the second half and beat Memphis by 21 points in the absolutely electric United Center. The playoff environment was something Bulls fans had waited for all season long.
Heading into Tuesday, just hours before tip-off Trae Young was announced out for the game, giving Chicago ample opportunity to defend their homecourt and steal the eighth seed from Atlanta. Had they done so, they’d only need to win one game to enter the NBA Playoffs and could have possibly hosted a game if they were to lose the first matchup in the Play-In Tournament. After dropping that heartbreaker, winning their three remaining games and moving to at least the ninth seed was still possible. With Toronto’s final three contests against the best teams in the NBA, hurdling them in the standings was a real possibility. Yet again, the Bulls caught a huge break when the Bucks announced that Giannis Antetokounmpo would be sidelined for the ESPN matchup and fumbled that chance yet again, falling by 13 to the shorthanded Bucks. Zach LaVine did not hold back after the disappointing loss versus the Hawks.
“It was a must-win game for us, and obviously we didn’t do good enough. They wanted it more than us. It sucks to have that type of result at this point in the season.”
Zach LaVine via @DarnellMayberry on Twitter
Time To Rest The Stars
Since the Bulls have no room to improve or worsen their standing before the season ends, there might be more value in resting players than getting in more action before the Play-In Tournament. Chicago will need to win back-to-back road games to advance to the NBA Playoffs, where they will meet the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Last night’s win over the Bulls clinched the first seed in the Eastern Conference for Antetokounmpo and company. Donovan eluded to resting his key pieces ahead of Friday’s meaningless matchup in Dallas.
It’s also expected that Alex Caruso will be sidelined for at least one of the next two games with his lingering foot injury and that others who have nagging injuries could see less court time in the final two contests. Friday is certainly a must-win for the Dallas Mavericks, but with nothing at stake for the Bulls, expect a quick trigger from Donovan when it comes to pulling his top players from the rotation.
All the chips are on the table on April 12th, when Chicago will need to win their first of two road games in hopes of making the NBA Playoffs. Can they find lightning in a bottle when it matters most? They’re 0-2 versus the Raptors in Toronto this season, so it’ll take a miraculous effort to turn the tides in their favor.
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