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.

I questioned the moves the Bulls made at the trade deadline. Trading Tyrus Thomas (Bobcats) and John Salmons (Bucks) to teams that the Bulls were competing with for the playoffs has turned into a huge mistake. Coaches Scott Skiles (Bucks) and Larry Brown (Bobcats) have gotten both Salmons and Thomas playing at very high levels which leads me to also question if Vinny Del Negro is the right coach for the Bulls as he couldn’t get either of those guys to play up to their ability. Since Salmons has left the Bulls he has played in 12 games (10 starts) in which he is averaging 36.5 minutes, 19.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Thomas has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Bobcats in which he is averaging 26.8 minutes, 11.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.3 blocked shots per game. The Bulls are in disarray and they will have to get focused over the summer from the top of the organization all the way to the 12th man on the bench. Maybe watching the playoffs on T.V. will get them more inspired starting next month.

Not only were the Chicago Bulls blown out by the Orlando Magic last night, but they added insult to injury with Derrick Rose leaving the game with a sprained left wrist.  It happened late in the first quarter, when Rose fell hard on his wrist after colliding hard with Magic center Dwight Howard.  It was the second hard, injury-causing collision of the season that Rose has had with Howard.  Earlier in the season Rose went up hard against Howard and fell painfully hard on his hip, resulting him almost missing his first All-Star game.  Now Rose will be out against their upcoming game against the Miami Heat and possibly longer.  I’m not suggesting Howard is intentionally trying to injure Rose, but Rose’s teammates need to protect their young superstar and show their will be consequences for hard fouls on their number one guy.  Maybe a hard foul or two on Howard will make him think twice about going at Rose so aggressively.  The Bulls have now lost six straight games and it is looking more and more like they will miss the playoffs, especially with all the injuries they are dealing with.  Rose is out, Joakim Noah is out indefinitely (plantar fasciitis), Luol Deng (calf) has been missing some games, and Taj Gibson (plantar fasciitis) and Brad Miller (thumb, knee) are battling through injuries of their own.  It is unfortunate the Bulls are falling apart, because they have a good young team that surprised everyone last year with their exciting seven-game series with the Boston Celtics.

The Chicago Bulls have now lost five games in a row and they have played their way out of the top eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.  Many of the players on the Chicago Bulls are battling injuries, and it could be the reason why the Bulls have been playing so poorly lately.  Joakim Noah has been out with plantar fasciitis since February 27th and has only played in four games since February 4th.  He is not expected back anytime soon, but he is slowly getting better since he is now out of his walking boot/cast.  Rookie center Taj Gibson, who has been having a great season, is also battling plantar fasciitis.  Although Gibson’s plantar fasciitis is not as serious as Noah’s, he was one of three active Bulls’ players to sit out practice today (Wednesday) and he is questionable for tomorrow night’s game against the Orlando Magic.  The other two who missed practice were Luol Deng (calf) and Brad Miller (thumb).  The good news is that Miller’s thumb won’t keep him out of the lineup and it hasn’t been affecting his shooting.  Deng’s calf strain is not deemed serious.  Still, it looks like Deng may be out the next few games for the Bulls which won’t help them get out of their losing streak.  The Bulls have some tough teams left on their schedule, so if they don’t get healthy and start playing better defensively they will likely miss the playoffs.

Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls are sorely missing their center, Joakim Noah.  Rose has been stepping up his play with Noah out, but Noah and his plantar fasciitis injury has really set the Bulls frontcourt back, especially when it comes to defense and rebounding.  Without Noah, the Bulls are a different team defensively and they need to score more points because of it.  They haven’t really been doing that, and the Bulls have now lost four straight games because of it.  You can’t blame Derrick Rose though, since he has been playing some great basketball lately.  In the past five games he is averaging 27.6 points, 4.5 assists, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.8 steals while shooting 56% from the field.  Rose is definitely doing his part, but he (and every other Bull) could help a little more hitting the glass.  Rose is averaging 3.8 rebounds per game on the season and he has been consistently below that average lately, so rebounding is the only thing he needs to improve on right now.  Although Rose has been stepping it up when it comes to scoring, he can’t do it himself and the win/loss column is proving that.  Taj Gibson and Brad Miller have been doing their part lately, but guys like Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Hakim Warrick, and Flip Murray are not carrying their load on offense.  If those guys don’t start shooting the ball better and helping Rose with the scoring load, the Bulls are going to be in big trouble.

The Bulls were leading this game 80-76 heading into the 4th quarter before the roof caved in on them. It doesn’t help your chances when you get outrebounded 46-31 and let the opposing team shoot 52.6% from the floor and that’s exactly what the Bulls did last night. Luol Deng led the way for the Bulls last night with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Derrick Rose had a solid game also last night for the Bulls with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Brad Miller pitched in with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists last night. The Bulls are now 31-30 on the year.