Predicting Chicago Bulls’ 2022-23 regular season record

March and April

Chicago is in for a bumpy ride before the season concludes, as 13 of their last 14 games will come against teams with postseason aspirations — and are good enough to capitalize on them. The Bulls will be banking on much growth from their young core of Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, and Dalen Terry to have grown enough to log big minutes here, since overworking the All-Star trio right before the playoff sounds like a surefire recipe for disaster.

• Must-watch games: Bulls @ Lakers, March 26; Bulls @ Clippers, March 27

Limiting this to just one game felt unfair, as a back-to-back stand in the

STAPLES Center

Crypto.com Arena always makes for great television. The Clippers look like they’ll return as one of the NBA’s premier teams now that Kawhi Leonard is back in action, and Bulls fans will also be treated to a show in what will likely be one of the team’s last handful of head-to-head games against LeBron James.

• Most difficult game: Bulls vs. Grizzlies, April 2

With just five games remaining on the schedule by the time this game rolls around, the Bulls will likely have their eyes set on a pair of upcoming games against the Hawks and Bucks to determine their playoff seeding. Overlooking the Grizzlies would be a critical error, however, as Memphis has proven itself to be one of the fastest-rising contenders in the league today. Not only will this be an extremely difficult game, but it should also have a fair share of highlights when Ja Morant and company come to town.

• Must-win games: As many games as possible from March 1 to March 15

With an incredibly difficult final stretch of games leading up to the NBA Playoffs in late March and early April, the Chicago Bulls will have to take advantage of every opportunity they’re given before the final push. From March 1 to March 15, the Bulls will play six games — four of which coming against weaker teams in Detroit, Indiana, Houston, and Sacramento. Each of those needs to be won if the Bulls wish to avoid plummeting before the postseason yet again.

To be completely honest, maintaining a .500 record here would honestly be a perfectly acceptable outcome for such a difficult stretch of games here. I’m a little more optimistic about this team’s ambitions, however, and have them winning 11 of their 20 games. This brings the Bulls up to a 49-33 finish; it may not be as aesthetically pleasing as a nice round 50 in the win column, but it’s still a 3-win improvement over last season’s finish and outpaces where most bookies in Las Vegas currently have the Bulls.

Predicted Record: (49-33)