Heading into the week the Bulls needed just one win to clinch a playoff spot and avoid the play-in tournament. Fortunately, the Bulls were able to clinch a spot on their first night out, but not by their own doing. Chicago also had the opportunity to clinch with a Cleveland loss, and the Cavs happened to fall to the Magic tonight securing the Bulls a spot.
The Bulls currently sit in the 6th seed, which currently pins us up against the competition we just faced tonight in the Bucks. However, the Bucks, Sixers and Celtics all have the same record so there could be some shuffling among those teams as the week progresses. Unfortunately, this Bulls team has gone 0-4 against the Sixers and 0-4 against the Bucks this season, we have split the series 1-1 against the Celtics with another matchup to break the tie tomorrow night.
More bad news for the Bulls came out today regarding Lonzo Ball. It sounds like his recovery is not going as well as planned, and he is still experiencing some discomfort when ramping up to full sprints and making cuts. They haven’t said definitively, but it sounds like they will just be shutting him down for the remainder of the season, which in all honesty, with everything else going on with this team, is probably for the best. Lonzo has a longer-term contract with the Bulls so it’s in the team’s best interest to have him come back 100% rather than risk further injuring the knee.
Zach Lavine also sat out tonight against the Bucks to give his knee a rest. Hopefully this was just precautionary and a rest game, but the fact that he continues to have issues with his knee is not promising heading into the playoffs. We can only hope that with an extended break before the playoffs tip-off he can get back to feeling good, even if it’s not 100%.
Although it was a rough game, DeRozan showed out as he usually does, dropping 40 points through 3 quarters but uncharacteristically did not score in the 4th quarter. Coby white had a better night shooting, starting the game 2-2 from three-point range, finishing with 13 points on 5 of 11 shooting. Patrick Williams continued his ascent, tallying 18 points on a very efficient 7 of 9 shooting.
These past two games against the Bucks at the United Center have been fun as the fans rain boo’s on Grayson Allen for his antics earlier this season which sidelined Alex Caruso for weeks. Vooch did get a pretty good shot on him, and while I wouldn’t encourage dirty plays meant to harm anyone, this seemed more like a hard foul from the 90’s than a “dirty” play but maybe I’m a little bias. Vucevic was hit with a technical for the play as it came after an offensive foul called just before the action. Again, I would never wish an injury on anyone, but there are certainly some players who could stand to learn a lesson, and Grayson Allen is one of them. Although, if he hasn’t learned yet, I don’t know that he ever will.
One game down, three more to go for the Bulls. With a playoff spot clinched, I would almost rather see the team get healthy and use these games to get some of the youngin’s some more reps, but you also don’t want to come into the playoffs cold, it’s a hard balance to find, but I think we could see some reduced minutes for some of the starters as the week carries on.
It’s unfortunate the Bulls weren’t able to clinch their spot by earning it tonight, but this season has certainly been a major improvement over last season, so I am happy with taking a step in the right direction. I only hope the Bulls can make a splash in the playoffs, the Hawks were that team last year, and despite losing Lonzo, I still wouldn’t count the Bulls out. Get at me on Twitter @GreNBA_ and let me know your thoughts on the Bulls playoff chances and as always thanks for reading, this is All Net!
Jacob Grenemeier
April 5th 2022
Photo Credit: https://firstsportz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/CC_Express_20220323_2242540-696×392.jpg
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