The Chicago Bulls could do the unthinkable on Thursday night. Drum roll please!
*very sarcastic drum roll*
With a victory against the Houston Rockets, the Bulls will be A…. .500 BASKETBALL TEAM!!! That’s right, thanks to their back-to-back wins over the Washington Wizards and Portland Trail Blazers, the team improved to 34-35 on the year. They will now host the 33-35 Rockets for a chance to even their record for the first time since early October.
Indeed, the last time the Bulls sat at .500 was October 30, 2023. A 112-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers put them at 2-2 on the season. After that, they would lose three straight and fall to a 5-14 start to the year. With that in mind – as well as all the injury issues this team has faced – he should at least be considered a moderate accomplishment for this group to get back to .500.
The Bulls are 29-21 since November 28, which is actually the 10th highest winning percentage in the NBA over that span. Only the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks have won more in the Eastern Conference. And it’s pretty damn shocking when you think about it.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Bulls played great basketball. They still only hold the 18th best net rating during this streak. Let’s also not forget that they remain 9th in the Eastern Conference with very little room to improve on this figure in the final weeks of the season. The only real reason the Bulls are 29-21 over the last 50 games is their ability to win in close matches. Chicago has played 30 of those 50 games in stride, and that’s where they’ve won 21 of their 29 wins.
The Chicago Bulls’ pursuit of .500
The Bulls have already beaten the Houston Rockets once this season. But starting over won’t be easy. The team had all five starters reach double digits in that January win, which included 25 points and 13 rebounds from the now-out Zach LaVine.
Houston also had its own hot streak. Jalen Green is playing excellent basketball and has helped his team win six straight games and eight of their last nine. They also held the third-best net rating in the NBA over the last nine games. The veteran savvy of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks combined with the young legs of Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson started to click significantly. They can kill you with their athleticism in transition, efficient 3-point shooting, and switching ability on defense.
That said, Houston is 33-35 for a reason. They also recently lost big man Alperen Sengun to a leg injury, and he killed the Bulls last time out with 25 points on 11-19 shooting. Without his presence down low, the door could swing wide open for Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond to get the Bulls back to that .500 threshold.
If the Bulls can pick up their second win against this Houston team, it will be interesting to see if they can continue their momentum toward a winning record. I guess a battle with Boston on Saturday sends them back into mediocre territory, but they could bounce back next week.
Here is their remaining schedule…
against rockets
@Celtiques
against wizards
against the Pacers
@ Nets
@Timberwolves
against the hawks
against the Knicks
@ Magic
against the Knicks
@Piston
@Wizards
@Knicks
To finish above .500, the Bulls would have to go 9-4 to finish the year. Six of these upcoming games will be against teams below Chicago in the standings. Can they take care of these cases and three others? It’s a daunting task, but it’s not impossible.
Regardless, does finishing .500 or better really matter? Would this mean we can give the front office the benefit of the doubt this offseason? Absolutely not.
Having the deal hover around league average should never be the goal. Chicago initially built this veteran-laden roster to compete at a higher level. Their failure to do so indicates that change is desperately needed.
