Chicago Bulls Will Be Most Dangerous Team in NBA Playoffs

The NBA Playoffs are just weeks away, and the once injury-plagued Chicago Bulls are now getting healthier. They once again have one of the teams to look out for in the Eastern Conference now that Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson have recovered from injury. In the bottom half of the Conference, seeds five through eight would have to play the top four seeds.

Normally, the highest seed has historically beaten the lower seed at a huge rate. According to an article by Matt Blitz, on sportingcharts.com, in a 10-year span the Eastern Conference’s higher seeds hold a record of 84-173. In 2002, things certainly got harder for lower seeds to upset the higher seed, because the NBA expanded their first round playoff format from a best of five to a best of seven series.

During this NBA season, the Bulls have shown that they can endure an NBA season without their starters for most of the time, but they have also shown signs of vulnerability to weaker teams, losing 14 games to squads with losing records. If the Bulls are able to remain healthy, they have a legitimate shot at advancing to a playoff series in the month of June, as the team is 15-4 with their entire starting five together.

A first round opponent can’t prepare for the Bulls, because Chicago hasn’t played more than 19 games at full strength and will more than likely be a different team with all of their key players back. In their last three playoff appearances, the Bulls are 6-15. During that stretch, the team has had their former MVP Derrick Rose in only one playoff game. The last time the Chicago Bulls were fully healthy, they advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals and would go on to lose in five hard-fought games that could have gone either way.

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The Bulls would be a tough first round opponent, because you don’t know what team you are really facing. Whether you will get the tough, gritty defensive team, or if you will get the version of the Bulls that has embraced their offensive capabilities and dismissed the defensive aspect of their system. This Bulls team has been unpredictable all season, and we will finally see what this team is made of at full strength with the playoffs rapidly approaching. The unpredictability of which Chicago Bulls team will show up makes them a dangerous matchup. One thing is for sure, if the Bulls perform as expected at full strength, then there is a very distinct possibility they will return once again to the Eastern Conference Finals.

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