2017 NBA Playoffs: Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics, Game 1 Outlook
How did the Chicago Bulls get to the eighth seed in the East?
This question cannot be answered with a firm response because truthfully, nobody has any idea how the Bulls actually made the postseason this year. They’re not good.
When it comes to solving the solution for this question, the place to start is with Jimmy Butler.
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The three-time All-Star (and first-time ASG starter this season) was fantastic virtually the entire year. This season, Butler averaged a career high in points per game, total rebounds per game, assists per game, offensive rating, value above replacement player (VORP), box plus-minus (BPM), win shares (WS), true shooting percentage (TS%) and player efficiency rating (PER).
After a loss on March 21 that ended their freakishly-long winning streak over the Toronto Raptors, the Bulls reeled off eight wins in their final 11 games (with a pretty favorable schedule) to finish at a perfectly mediocre 41-41 on the season and held off the Miami Heat in the final days to snag the final seed in the East.
How did the Boston Celtics get the top seed in the East?
There’s a couple easy answers for this question.
The first one, the Cleveland Cavaliers were incredibly bored and cared more about a healthy roster entering the playoffs more than their horrendous defensive performance in recent months.
The second? Isaiah Thomas (not the one that used to annoy the Bulls as a member of the Detroit Pistons) was absolutely amazing this season and will likely be on the All-NBA Second Team this season.
Boston didn’t put on the dominant performance you usually see from a 1-seed in either conference this year. Their 53 wins are the lowest for a top seed in the East since the 2006-07 seven when the Pistons won 53 games on their way to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.