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The Chicago Bulls still have the chance to do something special during the 2021-22 NBA season.
Making good on that opportunity, though, requires reversing some recent trends that have bumped the Bulls down to the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The defense is really hurting without Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, and there’s only so much DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine can do on the offensive end to offset those issues.
The Bulls, who took a five-game losing streak into Wednesday night, need to right the ship in a hurry. They also probably need some external assistance to climb up the standings, which is why their fans have two obvious teams to root against and one interesting club to pull for during the stretch run.
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Not even two months back, it seemed like the Celtics and Bulls were in two different tiers.
Through 47 games, Chicago had nearly twice as many wins (30) as losses (17). Boston, meanwhile, actually had one fewer victory (23) than defeat (24).
But the Shamrocks flipped the switch and haven’t looked back, going 17-3 with an impossibly dominant plus-16.1 net rating since, per NBA.com. The Bulls are 12-10 with a minus-0.9 net rating over the same stretch.
Just like that, Chicago and Boston are rubbing elbows in the standings. The Bulls are a half-game up at the moment, but they need to heat up in a hurry and have the Celtics cool way off to protect that advantage.
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This is a bit controversial, and it probably won’t summon universal support from the Windy City faithful.
The Cavaliers are Central Division rivals with the Bulls. Cleveland is also just 1.5 games back of Chicago, so if it catches fire, it could give the Bulls all kinds of problems.
This isn’t a blanket recommendation to back the Cavs, though. Rather, Bulls fans should play the part of their Northeast Ohio counterparts three times during the stretch run: when Cleveland plays the Philadelphia 76ers twice (March 16 and April 3) and the Milwaukee Bucks once (April 10). Cavs’ wins in those contests could help the Bulls climb above the No. 4 seed line.
Even if Chicago can’t escape the fourth seed, though, it might still have an incentive to pull for Cleveland. The Cavaliers are breathing down the Celtics’ neck, and if that’s the only change that happens in the Eastern Conference standings over the final month, Chicago would open the playoffs against Cleveland instead of Boston.
With the Celtics streaking and the Cavaliers trying to tread water without Jarrett Allen (fractured finger), that seems like the best possible matchup for the Bulls.
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Admittedly, the Bulls have their work cut out for them here.
The defending champion Bucks might be hitting their stride. They’re riding an Eastern Conference-best six-game winning streak and getting tremendous results from the talented trio of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday.
All three players are averaging at least 20 points during this stretch. Antetokounmpo and Middleton are shooting 50-plus percent from the field. Middleton and Holiday are clearing 43 percent from three. The dominance can be overwhelming.
Saying all of that, Chicago is still just 1.5 games back of Milwaukee and erasing that gap could be big. It would not only boost the Bulls’ seed line, they would also improve their odds of winning any tiebreakers by snatching the Central Division crown away from the Bucks.
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