Bulls throttle Hornets, get some help in play-in standings

The Bulls have had their share of rough nights this season. But Friday wasn’t one of them.

After they took care of their own business, easily disposing of the undermanned Hornets 121-91 at the Spectrum Center, they inched closer to moving up in the play-in seedings thanks to losses by the Raptors and Hawks.

With just five regular-season games left, things are about to get interesting.

“It’s all about us at this point in the season — us just focusing on what we do well, trying to play to our identity each and every night,” forward Patrick Williams said. “Not really about who we play, [but] more so about our effort and our energy.”

The Bulls (37-40) finished their first winning month of the season, going 9-6 in March. But even with that success, help is needed in to improve their postseason positioning.

Help came.

Entering Friday, the Hawks held the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, while the Raptors were No. 9, with each team two games up on the Bulls. Now it’s just a one-game lead for both after the Nets beat the Hawks and the 76ers took care of the Raptors. The Raptors have a tiebreaker over the Bulls. Tuesday’s game at the United Center between the Bulls and Hawks now looms large, especially with the Bulls up 2-1 in the season series.

If the Bulls keep the No. 10 seed — the last spot — they’ll have to win two road games in the play-in tournament to move on, and even then, the reward is facing the top team in the East in the first round.

But back to Friday.

The game had “lethargic” written all over it, as the Hornets (26-52) have been in tanking mode most of the second half. LaMelo Ball had season-ending ankle surgery, and the Hornets also sat Gordon Hayward, Kelly Oubre Jr., Terry Rozier and Dennis Smith Jr.

They still had P.J. Washington, who had scored 28, 21 and 43 points in his previous three games. But he left after just 12 minutes Friday because of a sprained foot.

Not that his presence would have mattered much, as the Bulls were all business from the opening tip. They went on an 8-0 run to start the game, and by midway through the first quarter, they were ahead by 14 after a layup from Zach LaVine.

The Hornets made some noise, shooting 5-for-12 from three-point range in the first quarter, but couldn’t avoid sloppy possessions, turning the ball over eight times in the first 12 minutes. The Bulls scored 12 points off those turnovers. It was a storyline for the evening, as the Hornets finished with 22 turnovers that led to 29 points.

Coach Billy Donovan was pleased the Bulls didn’t play down to the competition — a bad habit this season.

“A lot of [the Hornets’ starters] have been in the NBA, have been on different teams, played here,” Donovan said. “Our guys knew who these guys are.

“But it’s not really about your opponent. It’s really a standard of what you need to play to as a team. If your standard is going to be predicated on who is wearing what jersey or what the back of the jersey says, it’s really hard to reach your full potential.”