Bulls now tied at 40/40 with the 76ers

[dougthonus]

They hold the tiebreaker on us due to better conference record, so they still control their own destiny.

They have a home game against Boston and a road game against a Cleveland team that will have nothing to play for.

Assuming the Bulls can close out with a win against Toronto to end the season, the game against Detroit will almost certainly decide whether the Bulls are 6th or 8th. Though it's possible that we could go 1-1 and lose against Detroit and then have Detroit lose the finale against Miami who will also likely be resting guys for the playoffs but that seems unlikely that they'd lose to a Miami team not playing anyone.

 

[BullsFanInAtl]

I see us winning out. We mostly had trouble with the Pistons when they had Billups and now they don't scare me at all.The rotations look really strong right now with everyone seeming to understand their roles. Players seem to be sharing the ball more and I attribute much of this to Miller and Captain Kirk. Toronto could give us a harder time but we are at home and seem to pull out anything there. I think the last time we lost a home game DT gave away his tickets, maybe he should have had his priorities right and we would have beaten the Lakers at home too.:laugh:

 

[The Half Moon Bay]

I have to believe that the Bulls-Pistons game tomorrow decides whether the Bulls will be 6 or 8. Philly is really struggling right now. I would assess their chances of beating Boston at home at somewhere near 40%. Boston has a lot to play for, but without Garnett and with Philly being desperate, I give Philly a good chance. However, while Doug is certainly right that Cleveland has nothing to play for in terms of playoff position, I think they will want to shoot for that best home record of all-time. I know it seems like a worthless record, but the Cavs don't have a ton of records in their history, and this one will look good to their fans. I guess that is my long way of saying that I think Cleveland will beat Philly. That means that as far as I am concerned, the Bulls control their own destiny to get the 6 seed.

That makes tomorrow's game the single most crucial regular season game since the NJ season finale in 2007. A 6 seed and a first round matchup against the struggling Magic likely gives us 2-3 wins and some serious reason to feel good heading into the offseason. An 8 seed probably means a sweep or only one win. While I would still feel good about making the playoffs, I'd feel a lot better about making some noise.

 

[Diddy1122]

As much as I want the Bulls to get the 6th seed and play Orlando, I still feel they best match-up with the Cavs. They like to play in the open court, just like the Bulls, and really have no interior presence. Yes, there's Big Z but is primarily at spot up shooter. This would bode well for Rose, who is at his best when slashing to the hoop. We match-up in size at almost every position, and we've played them well, for the most part in our 3 losses to them this year. Not mention, they have not played us with Miller & Salmons on the team. And as we all know, as Lebron goes, so does Cleveland. No one can stop him but if we can just slow him down, and force him into outside jumpers, I think we can stand a chance against them. Does that mean I think we'll win the series? Of course not, but I don't see it being a sweep either. In fact I don't see us getting swept in any of the potential match-ups. With the way we've played at home, I think I can safely say we will win atleast 1 to 2 games in any series.

 

[??? ??????]

Bulls need to win these next 2 games, then they will get the 6th seed. The Cavs are going to beat the 76ers at home, as they want to tie that home record record. Hopefully the Celtics don't just come out of the gate already toast, and actually contest the 76ers, unlike their effort against the Cavs today.

 

[jgonboricua]

I am So happy were actually at 500!!! now tied for the 6th spot i can see phili loosing both those game and us winning both game....chicago ends season 42-40 phili ends season 40-42...not having thadeus young has really hurt them...

 

[ryguy24]

Orlando por favor.

 

[clonetrooper264]

A win at the Palace would pretty much secure the 6th spot for us IMO. Assuming the 76ers continue their downward spiral. With all these wins going into the playoffs and the potential to make some noise there, VDN doesn't seem all THAT bad now does he? Not bad for a first year coach with no experience anyway.

 

[Newskoolbulls]

Orlando has Lewis suffering from knee tendinitis in both knees, hmmmmm #6 please.

 

[Gene]

If we win out good things will happen. Let's go into the playoffs riding a winning streak. Hoping we play Orlando, because we don't have a chance with Cleveland or Boston(if KG is healthy).

 

[cool007]

This is what I have been saying.

Bulls either get a 8th seed or 6th seed. I think Philly will win 1 (last game against Cavs has secured the home court pretty much with Lakers losing to Portland).

1 question though. What if Philly/Chicago/Detroit are all tied up??? Who gets 6th seed, 7th and 8th seeds???

 

[dougthonus]

It will be interesting to see what happens with the final 2 games Philly plays. Boston and Cleveland are both going to be left with nothing to play for.

Boston has already locked up home court vs Orlando and can't catch LA or Boston.

Cleveland will have nothing to lock up either unless they lose on the road next game to Indiana.

Philly is also playing horribly, but I think they could still do well against teams with nothing to play for.

 

[Ron J]

If the pistons game was in chicago id feel great but seeing as we just lost to the raptors and pacers on the road I'm not so sure we'll beat detroit with that being said I hope we can avoid clevleand I don't buy that we match up crap they'll steam roll us boston on the other hand is at least injured and a little vulnerable and we have just as much if not more playoff experience than orlando and with the exception of hedo I don't think anyone on that teams been out of the first round so I think we'd have a punchers chance at the very least

 

[charity stripe]

I disagree that Boston and Cleveland have nothing to play for. Boston got destroyed by Cleveland, and I think they want to go in with at least a little bit of momentum. KG will be coming back on Wednesday, he seems to be healthy, and they would try for a 2 game win streak.

Cleveland would want to tie the 87 Celtics record of 40-1 at home.

 

[charity stripe]

If 6ers and Bulls end up at 41-41, they could also be tied in the conference record tiebreaker. The next tiebreaker would go to winning percentage against playoff teams in their own conference

Against Eastern conference playoff teams, Bulls right now are 8-16, Philadelphia right now is 8-15. So Bulls will end up 8-17 or 9-17. Philadelphia will end up 8-17, 9-16, or 10-15.

If both end up at 8-17, the next tiebreak will be record against playoff teams in the west.
In that category Bulls are 7-9 while Philadelphia is 6-10.

 

[??? ??????]

charity stripe wrote:

If 6ers and Bulls end up at 41-41, they could also be tied in the conference record tiebreaker. The next tiebreaker would go to winning percentage against playoff teams in their own conference

Against Eastern conference playoff teams, Bulls right now are 8-16, Philadelphia right now is 8-15. So Bulls will end up 8-17 or 9-17. Philadelphia will end up 8-17, 9-16, or 10-15.

If both end up at 8-17, the next tiebreak will be record against playoff teams in the west.
In that category Bulls are 7-9 while Philadelphia is 6-10.

Nope. 76ers have Boston/Cleveland left and Bulls have Detroit/Toronto. Bulls are a game back in conference record, so there is no scenario where they tie and the Bulls have an equal conference record.

 

[charity stripe]

You're right, i misread that. My bad.

 

[suckfish]

I think Philly lose both. If they do win one, it'll be in Boston. I just don't see Cleveland letting up at home on the last game of the regular season. They may have already secured home court advantage but they will still want to protect that home court record and go into the playoffs on a winning note. They're not going to lose what would only be their second home loss of the season.

Toronto beating Philly was huge.

 

[Morten Jensen]

If we, Detroit and Philly all end 41-41, we should win the tie-breaker over the Pistons, lose the tie-breaker to Philly and get 7th, right?

Obviously, if we win tonight, we'll clinch 7th regardless and can only move up from there.

EDIT: Forget it. I thought we only played 3 games against Philly this year. But we played 4 and went 2-2..

 

[suckfish]

Philly own the tiebreaker due to conference record.

The bulls currently hold the tiebreaker with Detroit on the head to head. If Detroit beat the bulls it's tied and goes to the record against Division teams. Detroit are 7-8 and the bulls 8-7. If that's tied Detroit then have the better record against conference teams.

I think that is correct..