After Sunday’s 122-102 win over the 76ers, the Chicago Bulls punched a ticket to their third straight Play-In appearance, finishing the season with a 39-43 record. As the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls face the Miami Heat on Wednesday, which marks the third consecutive year the two teams have met in the Play-In. However, the Bulls hold home-court advantage for the first time in their three meetings. Facing elimination in this must-win stretch of the next two games, here are three things that the Bulls must execute well to nail down the eighth seed.
3 Keys to Postseason Success for the Bulls
Josh Giddey Being at Full Health
The biggest concern for the Bulls heading into the Play-In is whether Josh Giddey will be able to suit up. Missing three of the team’s last four games, Giddey has been battling a lingering wrist injury and refrained from traveling with the team on Sunday to receive treatment from the training staff. Giddey is listed as probable for Wednesday’s game. While it appears that he is trending toward playing, it remains unclear if he will be playing at full strength.
A lingering wrist injury is nothing to mess around with, as it has kept Lonzo Ball out for half of the season as well and derailed his return. With Ball already out for the season due to this injury, it is vital that Giddey takes his rehab seriously. There is a semi-realistic possibility that Giddey and the Bulls decide sitting out is the better move for the team long-term, with Giddey approaching restricted free agency this offseason.
Nevertheless, Giddey needs to be at his best for the Bulls to secure the eighth seed and set up a matchup with Cleveland. Since Zach LaVine was dealt to the Kings in February, Giddey’s numbers have exploded. Over the past two months, Giddey has brought his averages to 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, which are all career highs. Both Giddey and Coby White have played at an All-Star level during these two months, and this young backcourt must be at full strength to anchor the team in these next two must-win games.
Shooting Well From Three
The Bulls have been shooting well from beyond the arc all season, concluding the regular season with a total three-point percentage of 36.7%. Additionally, they ranked third in made threes per game for the season. This trend of efficiency and volume needs to continue for the Bulls to secure a playoff spot.
A major reason for the team’s improved three-point shooting has been Nikola Vucevic. He has been quietly shooting the best deep ball of his career this year, sinking 40.2% percent of his shots from three. This is a massive turnaround from last season, where he shot a brutal 29.2 percent. The unexpected emergence in Vucevic’s three-point shooting has reopened discussions about his fit with the Bulls long-term as a veteran presence, one that will be essential for him to provide this week as the guy with the most playoff experience on the roster.
Coby White’s exceptional level of recent play has extended to his three-point shooting as well, as White is shooting 38.3 percent from deep, the second-highest percentage of his career if projected over a full season. If both White and Vucevic continue to shoot the way they have been, the Bulls will be able to score enough points at a high volume to keep up with their opponents.
Pushing the Pace and Scoring in Transition
The last key factor to the Bulls’ success in their upcoming game(s) will be maintaining the fast-paced, uptempo offense that they have been thriving with over the past two months. Ranking as the second fastest offense in the NBA, the Bulls average a whopping 103.6 possessions per game. This puts the Bulls at a significant advantage of being in a position to control the pace and score at a much faster rate compared to the Heat who rank in the bottom five of slowest offenses.
Continuing to play with the eccentric ball movement that has shaped this team’s offensive identity will also be essential. The Bulls rank fifth in the league in assists per game with 29.1, propelled to this position by Giddey, who leads the team with 7.2 assists per game over the season and 8.3 per game over the last two months. The guard-heavy roster the Bulls assembled this season gives them a large advantage when distributing the ball, with Giddey’s emergence as one of the league’s best passers as well as consistent high-level passing from White and Ayo Dosunmu, who both average a respective 4.5 assists per game.
Another crucial and underrated metric that does not get mentioned enough about the Bulls offense is that they rank third in the league in fast break points, averaging 18.5 per game. This number only trails the Nuggets and Pistons, putting the Bulls firmly in position as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference at capitalizing on fast breaks. This puts them at a huge advantage when stacking up to the Heat, as they are in the bottom 10 of the league in this metric averaging 16.4 fast-break points.
The Last Word
If the Bulls can capitalize on these two strengths of gameplay and see Giddey returning to peak form, they can certainly compete with the other playoff teams in the Eastern Conference and go on a potential dark horse playoff run. As a team that has been one of the hottest in the league over the last two months with a 15-7 record, anything is possible for this young core.
Photo credit: © David Banks-Imagn Images
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