The Chicago Bulls currently sit in the ninth seed in the East with a record of 28-31. They are just 1.5 games ahead of the 10th-seed Atlanta Hawks and just five games ahead of being completely out of the Play-In Tournament. With All-Star weekend over, the next few months of the NBA season are critical for all teams. Each game matters immensely for a team like Chicago, who is 5-5 over their last 10. With more injuries, shooting slumps, and other complications, can the Bulls stay afloat heading into a difficult stretch?
A Look at Bulls’ Upcoming Schedule: Critical 10-Game Stretch
The Bulls’ schedule for the next 10 games looks daunting for the middling team. In order, Chicago is set to face the Milwaukee Bucks, Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, the Clippers again, Washington Wizards, and Portland Trail Blazers. All but three of these teams have records above .500 and are competing for guaranteed playoff berths.
The only “worse” teams the Bulls will face in this stretch are the Wizards and Trail Blazers. But considering Chicago’s recent loss against the league-worst Detroit Pistons, there’s no guarantee they will capitalize on those opportunities.
The Bulls will have to scratch and claw their way to a few wins in this 10-game stretch to remain in play-in contention. However, this may be extra difficult considering some of the unfortunate circumstances the Bulls find themselves in.
Season-Ending Injury for Patrick Williams
Chicago now has two significant players out with season-ending injuries. On top of losing Zach LaVine earlier this season, the Bulls recently reported that Patrick Williams would also end his season early with left foot surgery.
Williams has been underwhelming this season, averaging only 10 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. Despite that, losing a 27-minute-per-game player requires some intentional rotations adjustments for the rest of the Bulls’ schedule.
This loss isn’t totally hopeless, though. Losing Williams may make way for a potential key to success for the Bulls in playing big men Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond together more. Allowing Vucevic to thrive as a pick-and-pop stretch four and letting Drummond take care of the paint may be a game-changer for Chicago.
Continued Shooting Struggles
In their game against the Pistons, the Bulls had one of the worst three-point shooting nights in NBA history. Four Pistons players had as many or more three-pointers made than Chicago’s whole team did – which, if you’re curious, was two. The Bulls shot an abysmal 2-29 from three – an almost laughable 6.9%. With this performance, Chicago holds the second-worst three-point shooting game for a team that shot over 25 threes. It’s also the first time a team has shot below 7% from deep this decade.
Poor three-point shooting isn’t new to this Bulls team. Chicago ranks in the bottom-10 in three-point attempts and efficiency this season. Having a historically bad shooting night does nothing but highlight these deficits even more.
To add salt to the wound, the Pistons only have nine wins on the season – two of which are against the Bulls.
The Last Word: Hoping for the Best in Critical Stretch of Schedule
The Bulls’ next 10 games could make or break the rest of their season. The best-case scenario would be for Chicago to go an even 5-5 and keep from slipping from the ninth or 10th seed. If Chicago can take advantage of games against Washington and Portland and pull off a few upsets against stronger teams, they may just stay afloat.
As the Bulls’ schedule increases in difficulty, the significance of this stretch rises as well. Chicago fans will have to hold their breath and hope for the best as their Bulls face this critical stretch.
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