The latest Chicago Bulls news for March 25, including a recap of an unbelievable Western Conference road trip, the Bulls' chances of hosting a Play-In game, and which of Chicago's guards are most important.
Bulls continue to surprise after 4-2 road trip
Chicago headed West riding high after a four-game winning streak that featured two come-from-behind victories and one each against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, with whom the Bulls are jockeying for Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament position.
It wouldn't have been a surprise to see the team come back down to Earth during a six-game road trip that featured four, potentially five, contests against Western Conference playoff teams. Those six games came in the span of just nine days.
Instead, Chicago went 4-2 with wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. The trip began with a three-point loss to the Houston Rockets, a winnable game for the Bulls considering they shot only 16 free throws compared to Houston's 26. Charity stripe frequency has been one of the key reasons head coach Billy Donovan's squad has turned its season around.
The Bulls routed the Lakers with a historical performance from Josh Giddey, another impressive scoring night from Coby White and the best game of Matas Buzelis' career so far. Chicago's getting healthier, and stretches of games like this show that this level of play is not a flash in the pan.
Updated Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament standings
Leaving Chicago after winning four straight and returning after winning three straight gives the Bulls an 8-2 record in their last 10 games. Only the Boston Celtics (9-1) have been better over that span in the East.
That leaves Chicago 1.5 games ahead of the disappearing Miami Heat for ninth in the standings and only two back of the Orlando Magic for eighth, which would guarantee a home Play-In game and an easier shot at an actual playoff berth for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
The Bulls are locked in for a postseason spot and playing better than they have all season. They may as well make a run at the No. 7 or 8 seed and a date with the Cleveland Cavaliers or Celtics.
Coby White or Josh Giddey: Who ya got?
Buzelis continues to get better. Tre Jones was holding down the backcourt fort before getting injured. Nikola Vucevic is healthy and back in the starting lineup (questionably). Dalen Terry is playing the best basketball of his career.
But the Bulls are riding high on the shoulders of White and Giddey.
In their 17 games since the All-Star break (in which the Bulls are 10-7), the two guards are the only players on the team averaging more than 20 points—White has played all 17 contests and is averaging 26.2 points, while Giddey has played 11 and is scoring 22.6 ppg.
Giddey also leads the team in rebounding (10.2), assists (9.1), steals (1.6) and is second in blocks (0.8). He's shooting 54.3 percent from the field, 53.1 percent from three and 83.8 percent from the free-throw line on nearly six attempts per game.
White, meanwhile, has been Chicago's go-to scorer and is putting up shots at a high volume while remaining efficient—he's shooting 48.6 percent from the field on 18.6 attempts, more than four more than any of his teammates, and is hitting 90.7 percent of his 5.7 free-throw attempts a night.
Is one player more important than the other? Giddey has been all-around incredible for more than two months. White struggled when the Bulls traded Zach LaVine, but he has found his niche and is rolling as the team's top scoring option.
Truthfully, one couldn't be doing what they're doing without the other. This is what the franchise hoped to see when it acquired Giddey during the offseason.