After losing a very close run-and-gun style game 111-105 Monday night to the Phoenix Suns, the Chicago Bulls are now 1.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.  They now have only eight games to play, and they are going to need to string together as many wins as possible to get a spot in the postseason.  Only two of those eight games are against subpar competition (Washington & New Jersey), so the Bulls have to be on top of their game as they still have to play the Charlotte Bobcats (twice), Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and perhaps the biggest game of their season against the Toronto Raptors.  The Raptors game is one of the last three games of the season for the Bulls, so it could make or break their playoff chances.  The key players like Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, Brad Miller, and Kirk Hinrich obviously have to be on top of their games, but the Bulls could use a lift from the bench.  Flip Murray and Joakim Noah have been playing well, but Noah’s been getting limited minutes due to injury.  I expect Noah to start getting more minutes because the Bulls really need him.  The Bulls season looks like it will come down to the wire, and I think they will pull it off with Rose and Noah leading the way.

Joakim Noah and his injured foot (plantar fasciitis) have almost ruined the Chicago Bulls’ season this year and they are out of the top eight Eastern Conference playoff picture.  Noah recently missed 10 straight games for the Bulls, and they lost every single one of those games.  Noah returned to action on March 20th against the Philadelphia 76ers, and played in his fourth straight game Saturday night against the New Jersey Nets.  The Bulls have been really careful with Noah though, and he hasn’t played more than 13 minutes in any of those four games.  Noah, however, has been looking more and more healthy from game to game.  Saturday night against the Nets he looked liked the pre-injury Noah, grabbing rebounds aggressively and throwing down dunks on the opposing team’s big men.  He finished with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block in just 13 minutes of action.  It was the Nets though, one of the worst teams in NBA history.  Still, it was a good sign for the Bulls to see Noah with an extra pep in his step and gaining more confidence with each extra minute.  Hopefully Noah can continue to progress and get healthy, because with him the Bulls are definitely a playoff team.

The Bulls tried like hell to trade Kirk Hinrich to no avail. Hinrich has played in 62 games (41 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 33.3 minutes, 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is only shooting 40.4% from the floor this season and that has really hurt his offensive output for the Bulls this year. He is starting to look like a player on the downslope of his NBA career.

With all of the injuries hitting the Bulls right now they have decided to give Acie Law a few minutes to see what they have in him. Law has played in 9 games (1 start) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 11.8 minutes, 7.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Law is also shooting 51.3% from the floor which is pretty darn good. Look for his minutes to go up if he keeps playing well when given the chance.

The Bulls have lost starting small forward Luol Deng for at least the next 2-3 weeks as he has aggravated his right calf injury. Deng played in 62 games (all starts) for the Bulls this season in which he is averaging 37.9 minutes, 18.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Rookie James Johnson will fill in for Deng while he is out. Johnson has played in 58 games (7 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 11.5 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. This is some bad luck for the Bulls.