The Bulls can see the summit.
Heck, just more than a week ago, they actually dug their high-tops into a foothold, pushed themselves up on their tiptoes and almost got their fingertips to brush the edge of it.
Sadly for the Bulls, it proved to be just out of their reach, courtesy of a loss last Saturday to the Clippers in Los Angeles.
It was a microcosm of their 2023-24 season.
‘‘It’s kind of the position we put ourselves in with the bad start,’’ Bulls center Nikola Vucevic said. ‘‘We definitely dug ourselves a hole, and we’ve been trying to find a way to claw our way out of it.’’
One of the Bulls’ goals is to reach .500. If that also means getting out of the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference and bettering their position for the play-in tournament, they’ll take it.
The problem is, neither of those goals has been obtained. The last time the Bulls (32-35) were .500 this season was Oct. 30, when they improved to 2-2 with a road victory against the Pacers.
The spiral started there. The Bulls lost 12 of their next 15 games and hit rock bottom in a blowout loss to the Celtics in Boston.
The basketball has been better since then, both statistically and in the standings, but reaching .500 has eluded them.
Their best chance came after a surprise road victory last week against the Warriors left them at 31-32. The Clippers made sure it didn’t happen, however, and the Bulls have lost three of their last four games overall.
‘‘A couple of times we’ve gotten to within a game of .500 and never been able to win that one game to get there,’’ Vucevic said. ‘‘At the same time, we’re not going to stop fighting to get there. While there’s a chance, we’re going to continue and fight to climb up the standings.
‘‘It’s one thing with this team: We never stop fighting, we never stop competing. It’s a tricky spot we’re in when you look at the standings. It kind of feels like we’re stuck there. We’ll continue to fight to the end and see what happens.’’
With 15 games left and the distance between the No. 8 spot and the Bulls consistently staying in the four- to five-game range, it would seem they are destined to finish No. 9 in the conference.
The Bulls have been without guard Zach LaVine (surgery on right foot) for most of the season, have lost forward Patrick Williams (surgery on left foot) for the season and now are without guard Coby White (right hip). Then they said Friday that rookie forward Julian Phillips (sore right foot) will wear a walking boot until his next evaluation.
Factor in that they’ve been without guard Lonzo Ball (left knee) for two years and counting, and it’s not as though there’s help on the way for a final push.
That’s why coach Billy Donovan avoided using adjectives such as ‘‘frustrating’’ and ‘‘disappointing’’ when asked about so many nights under .500 this season.
‘‘The hard part for us is at times having guys in and out and not
being whole,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Relying on different guys in different situations. The other guys have had to step up. At times we’re fighting for consistency. We’ve got to find that consistency.
‘‘It’s kind of like next man up. I don’t know if it’s frustrating or disappointing. The consistency, can we get the consistency to a higher level? And that requires everybody raising it, too.’’
If there are any positives the Bulls can set their sights on, they’re coming in the final month of the season. That starts Saturday, when they host the lowly Wizards for the first of three meetings against them through mid-April.
In fact, the Bulls have the second-easiest schedule left in the league, with their only real obstacles being a game against the Celtics and three against coach Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks.
