The Bulls are now in the driver’s seat for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.  The playoff picture is very tight at the bottom, however.  There are 8 teams within 6 games of each other ranging from Detroit in 6th place to the Knicks in 13th place.  With all those teams having somewhere between 16 and 22 games remaining, it is crucial that the Bulls try to win as many games as possible:

		W	L	PCT	GB	HM	RD	CONF	DIV	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
6	Detroit	31	30	.508	17 ½	16-15	15-15	19-17	7-5	93.4	93.9	-0.5	Lost 1	4-6
7	Philadelphia	30	30	.500	18	17-14	13-16	18-19	5-7	96.8	96.2	+0.6	Won 1	4-6
8	Chicago	29	34	.460	20 ½	19-11	10-23	14-22	6-6	100.9	102.0	-1.1	Won 2	6-4
	Milwaukee	30	36	.455	21	19-12	11-24	18-23	4-11	99.7	100.2	-0.4	Won 1	3-7
	Charlotte	28	35	.444	21 ½	18-15	10-20	15-24	5-8	93.3	94.5	-1.3	Won 6	7-3
	New Jersey	27	35	.435	22	13-19	14-16	16-22	5-6	98.4	100.7	-2.3	Lost 2	3-7
	Indiana	28	37	.431	22 ½	19-11	9-26	16-24	4-7	104.8	106.4	-1.6	Won 1	6-4
	New York	25	36	.410	23 ½	18-15	7-21	15-22	3-8	106.0	108.2	-2.1	Lost 1	4-6

It’s a close race and it will likely come down to the last week of the season.  The problem with this “exciting” playoff race is that no matter who gets the 7 or 8 seed, they will get steamrolled by Boston or Cleveland in the first round.  The best chance for the Bulls to make any noise in the playoffs is if they can somehow unseat Detroit as the 6 seed and play against Orlando in the first round.  The Bulls would not be favorites by any means against the Magic, but they would have a far better shot against them than against the Celtics or Cavs.

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Tags: Eastern Conference, Playoff Race