With under 90 minutes to tip-off in Milwaukee, the Bulls can take another sigh of relief regarding the injury report, as MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo will be sidelined for tonight’s game. With a chance to clinch the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks have opted to sit their star to rest and recover for what will almost certainly be a deep playoff run for the Milwaukee squad. Alex Caruso is sidelined for Chicago, as he’s had nagging injuries for the past few months. Being the second night of a back-to-back, Donovan has chosen to rest his defensive point guard.
Importance To Chicago
Simply put, this should, emphasis on should, help Chicago grab one of the three wins they’ll need to surpass either Atlanta or Toronto. While there are no official odds for the Bulls remaining in the tenth spot in the East, it’s extremely likely as the only scenario that would see them improving their seeding is if they were to win three games in a row, while Toronto or Atlanta lose three straight. Due to the low odds of a win materializing into anything significant for the Bulls, head coach Billy Donovan is taking the safe route with Caruso’s lingering injury.
While this could be used as a playoff preview seeing that this would be the likely first-round series if the Bulls were to advance out of the Play-In tournament, no real indicators can be taken from the game now that the Bucks superstar is sidelined.
The Bucks would need to lose their three remaining games while Boston wins each of their final three to flip them in the standings, so it would seem Milwaukee is playing the odds and taking advantage of resting Antetokounmpo while they are able. This doesn’t move the needle much for Chicago. They’re still on the road, the second night of a back-to-back, and the Bucks will still boast a deep lineup featuring Jrue Holiday and Kris Middleton, who can score 40 or more points on any given night. Holiday dropped 51 points less than a week ago versus the Indiana Pacers.
Time For The Bulls To Workshop
The next three games should be a trial period for the Bulls. Any lineups or configurations they lack repetitions or experience with should be utilized down the stretch. While they’re virtually locked into their playoff positioning and cannot fall out of the Play-In Tournament, now is the time to see what lineups are most effective during poor game stretches.
Sunday afternoon, for example, swapping Andre Drummond for Derrick Jones Jr. in the second half against Memphis led to a 40-16 third-quarter victory, with Jones Jr. flashing an impressive +15 plus/minus in only nine minutes of action. They would complete their largest comeback victory of the season, at one point being down 23 points to eventually winning by 21. That was no small feat against the second-best team in the Western Conference and should be replicated for as long as this team wants to continue playing into the postseason.
With wins over the Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Philadelphia 76ers in the second half of this season, Chicago has proven they can compete with the best. The question now becomes, can they do it consistently, and can they do it for 48 minutes in every game?
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