Monday night’s game tightened the playoff race between the Bulls and the Hawks, who’ll continue jockeying for final positioning in the play-in tournament as they finish out the regular season.
“Coming down to these final [six] games, last two weeks of the season, all these games are critical,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before the Hawks’ victory at the United Center pulled them to 35-40, within a half-game of the Bulls (36-40), who hold the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference. “Certainly, you felt that way in the Minnesota game.”
The Bulls got off to a hot start against the Timberwolves on Sunday, scoring 33 points in the first quarter of a 109-101 victory. But they’ve been inconsistent, beating teams they arguably shouldn’t while in the last 10 days losing to the Rockets and Wizards, both scraping the bottom of the standings.
The biggest playoff implication for the Bulls is whether they can maintain home-court advantage — which goes to the ninth-and seventh-place teams in each conference — in their first play-in game. Regardless, it’s likely at this point that the Bulls and Hawks (35-40) will meet in the tournament. The Bulls previously beat the Hawks twice this season and have the tiebreaker, if necessary.
“Probability-wise, there’s a likelihood we see each other again,” Donovan said. “All these games are important in terms of the competitiveness. I was pleased coming out of the Minnesota game just because of what happened. You knew they were going to make a run. I thought, when they got up, the guys did a great job of making the plays necessary to regain control of the game.”
Statuses of Phillips, Green unclear
Donovan still didn’t have an estimate for when forward Julian Phillips, who’s wearing a walking boot as a protective measure, will return from his injured right foot. There has been improvement in how his foot feels when the boot is on, but he’ll still need to be reevaluated once he gets back on the court.
Meanwhile, the 10-day contract that guard/forward Javonte Green signed March 23 is expiring. He wasn’t with the Bulls on Monday night as he dealt with a personal family matter. Donovan expected to have a conversation with the front office after the game about Green’s status and whether the Bulls will sign him to another 10-day contract.
Reunion still on track
Donovan previously said injured players Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams would all be rejoining the team this week. All three have been rehabbing from their injuries away from the team.
“I saw Lonzo [on Monday],” Donovan said of the point guard, who hasn’t played in a game since January 2022. “Patrick and Zach were flying in today.”
UConn playing a different game
Donovan led Florida to back-to-back national titles in 2006-07 — a feat no program has accomplished since, but which UConn might. Donovan said the transfer portal has changed the game.
“When I was coaching in college, if you decided to transfer, you had to sit out a year,” he said. “So it’s a totally different environment. For us, we had the same core group come back two years in a row.”
Two starters from UConn’s 2023 title team are back this year.
