Evaluating Washington Wizards’ competition for the 8th seed
By Keith Cork
1. The Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls have had a disappointing season by their own standards. When the season started, the Windy City was breezing with thoughts of playoffs and cautious optimism. On paper it looked like Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, and Otto Porter Jr. (ha) would be a top three worthy of a postseason.
With the projected growth of Wendell Carter Jr., and the addition of Coby White who looked so very good in the preseason and maybe even better just recently, there was hope that Bulls fans were being even more cautious than optimistic in their cautious optimism.
Then the season started. My how things change. Otto Porter has managed just 10 games for the Bulls this season and Lauri Markkanen went down recently with an injury that has cost him over a month.
Plus, the Bulls have just not been able to put it together on either side of the floor, sitting at 25th in the league in points per game and 13th in opponent points per game. Between bad luck and bad play, the Bulls find themselves behind even our own Washington Wizards in the standings.
Zach LaVine has been playing like a man possessed in stretches, similar to Beal, scoring 25.5 points per game, the most of his career.
The Chicago Bulls are starting to get healthy, which is the scary thing, and are set for a strong finish to the season. But they have the 4th hardest remaining strength of schedule, and they hold the tiebreaker over the Washington Wizards by taking the season series 3-1.
Head-to-head games remaining: 0
Odds of making the playoffs: 0.6%
Current record: 21-40
Games back: 6