Season winds down, playoff picture heats up

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Monday, April 4, 2011
Posted: 10:25 a.m.

By Aggrey Sam
CSNChicago.com

At 2 12 games ahead of Miami (54-23) and three games ahead of Boston (53-23), it's not a foregone conclusion that the Bulls will get the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but it's more of a reality every day. On top of the East race, securing home-court advantage throughout the entire postseason is also in play.

It appears that the Bulls' magic number is three games out of their remaining six regular-season contests, as they hold a tiebreaker over the Heat, due to sweeping the season series. Of course, to make things easy, one of those three games needs to be Thursday's home tilt against the reeling Celtics--after trading center Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City, replacement Nenad Kristic suffered a bone bruise in his knee and the veteran O'Neals, Jermaine and Shaquille, have struggled with nagging injuries; the latter made his return to Boston's lineup Sunday after missing significant action, but had to leave with an ominous calf injury--which would even the season series at two games apiece.

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Although San Antonio snapped its six-game losing streak with an impressive win over the Steve Nash-less Suns on national television Sunday, they aren't out of the woods yet, in regards to clinching the West or the league's best overall record. At 58-19, the Spurs still have some work to do to hold off the Lakers (55-21) for that conference's top mark, as well as the Bulls--who are only one game behind them for best home record in the NBA--for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

While the Bulls profess to not care about possible first-round opponents, the battle for the East's eighth and final playoff seed is becoming clearer.

Indiana, at two games ahead of Charlotte and three up on Milwaukee, is currently in position to take the spot. Three of the Pacers' four remaining games are at home, where they will host Washington, Atlanta and New York at Conseco Fieldhouse before visiting Orlando in their regular-season finale.

Charlotte faces Cleveland, Orlando, Miami, Detroit, New Jersey and Atlanta in its final six contests, while Milwaukee takes on Orlando, Miami, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto and Oklahoma City down the stretch.

With the regular season coming to a close and the possibility of an extended playoff run on everyone's mind, it's sometimes hard to reflect on what the Bulls have already accomplished. But consider these numbers: a 17-4 record since the All-Star break, 33-5 at the United Center for the entire season, no losing streaks longer than two games all season, just 10 losses in the 2011 calendar year. In addition, the Bulls have only been truly blown out once, a 107-78 defeat at the hands of Orlando on Dec. 1, in Carlos Boozer's Bulls debut.

Besides that game, there have only been a handful of "bad losses"--Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau would probably beg to differ--this season.
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The one-point December loss to the Clippers in Vinny Del Negro's return to Chicago was certainly a disappointment, as were the consecutive defeats at New Jersey and Philadelphia that raised the panic meter back in January. Likewise for the home-and-away setbacks at the hands of Charlotte, back-to-back losses to Golden State and Portland on the February West Coast road trip, falling at Toronto right after the All-Star break and last month's lackluster loss at Atlanta, in which they squandered a 19-point advantage.

However, with the exception of the Warriors and Trail Blazers--whom they beat the first time they played each squad, at the United Center--the Bulls have taken revenge on each and every opponent that's beaten them this season. That is, except for one foe--the New York Knicks, who handed them semi-decisive losses, both in Chicago and on Christmas Day, at Madison Square Garden. That doesn't bode well for the tumultuous, new-look Knicks, who host the Bulls in Chicago's final road game on April 12.

Aggrey Sam is CSNChicago.com's Bulls Insider. Follow him @CSNBullsInsider on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bulls information and his take on the team, the NBA and much more.

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