CHICAGO (670 The Score) – Ahead of the Bulls’ matchup against the Heat on Wednesday evening that carried play-in seeding ramifications, coach Billy Donovan called it a “consequential” game and traced his thoughts back to the start of training camp in explaining why it mattered to the organization.
“I’ve talked about this all the way back during media day – you want your younger players playing in meaningful games,” Donovan said. “This is a meaningful game. There’s value and development in that.”
Donovan’s Bulls responded with a 119-111 win against the Heat at the United Center, a victory that gave Chicago full control of ninth place in the East. The Bulls (37-43) now hold a one-game lead and the tiebreaker on the 10th-place Heat (36-44), meaning the two teams are likely to meet in the same venue next Wednesday in the play-in game between the ninth and 10th seeds. That winner would then have to win a second play-in game to earn the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket.
That’s the most likely scenario, but there’s a small chance the Bulls could rise to eighth place, which would give them two opportunities to win one play-in game to reach the playoffs. The easiest path to eighth place would be for the Bulls to win their final two games (vs. Wizards, at 76ers) and have the Hawks lose two of their final three games (at Nets, at 76ers, vs. Magic).
The Bulls’ youngsters were the central figures in the win Wednesday, a game that the team had placed an extra emphasis on by resting key players Tuesday in a loss to the Cavaliers. Guard Josh Giddey recorded a triple-double with 28 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists, while wing Kevin Huerter added 22 points and seven assists and rookie forward Matas Buzelis had 17 points, including a game-clinching 3-pointer.
“We play unselfish, we play together,” Huerter said after the Bulls had 33 assists and 16 turnovers. “Our thing is if we can take care of the ball and continue to just get good shots, we like our chances night in and night out.”
What was once a patchwork group of players at the trade deadline in mid-February has found a rhythm in recent weeks, with the Bulls winning eight of their past 11 games. Since March 5, the Bulls are 13-5 and rank 11th in offensive efficiency and 12th in defensive efficiency in the NBA.
Those results have fed into their growing confidence, which is at a "high" level, as Huerter put it. Giddey agreed.
“We’re feeling good as a team,” Giddey said. “This is the right time of year to get going, to start finding a rhythm. I think we’re really starting to come together. It’s evident out there on the floor. When we’re playing the way we do unselfishly, we get up and down, we wear teams down. It’s by committee. We do it with everybody. When we’re playing the way we do to our identity and everyone’s doing it, we’re a tough team to beat.”
The Bulls close the regular season by hosting the Wizards on Friday and by visiting the 76ers on Sunday. If they win their final two games, the Bulls will finish at 39-43, which would match their record from the 2023-’24 season.
“We’ll see where we end up after 82 games, but we’re confident we can go into a play-in game and beat anybody,” Giddey said. “So whoever we get, we’ll be ready for them.”
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.