The Chicago Bulls suffered a double blow to their ever-diminishing playoff hopes on Tuesday as they fell to the Brooklyn Nets, who were without James Harden and lost Kyrie Irving, 115-107. It snapped their three-game winning streak and was compounded by the Indiana Pacers’ surprising victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
With the loss, the Bulls fell four games behind the Pacers. They did get a bit of a reprieve when the Washington Wizards lost to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday and the Charlotte Hornets falling to the Denver Nuggets.
Only Charlotte has a schedule as tough as the Bulls.
But it’s the Wizards who present the best, and possibly last opportunity, for the Bulls to break through.
The Bulls will be eliminated from contention with another loss or Wizards win but, at this point, their chances are slim to nil. It likely comes down to whether or not Bradley Beal returns to action on Friday or not. And even if he sits, Washington will see Cleveland and Charlotte to end the season. All in all, they should probably be well into offseason planning at this point.
Chicago Bulls Still Fighting but Losing Ground in Hunt for Postseason
They’re still putting some good things on tape though. Don’t underestimate the strength of that in the face of the strong possibility they won’t have a first-round draft pick. So going out and playing hard is their best chance at improving the roster in the future.
By showing the front office can put together a competent group (which depends on your opinions of Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic), properly evaluating the roster, and, yes, even evaluating head coach Billy Donovan himself.