Way Too Close

Okay, I know things aren't exactly optimal for the Bulls right now.  Taj Gibson is out indefinitely with a fractured rib, Jimmy Butler has become the subject of offseason trade rumors and Derrick Rose missed the second half of Thursday's game with the Houston Rockets with a left elbow contusion.  But can every contest going forward be a little less stressful?  We could do without a 14-point comeback and nearly blowing a eight-point lead in the final 45 seconds of a 103-100 win.

While the Bulls made just enough free throws in the final minute, their poor transitional defense allowed Patrick Beverley and James Harden to hit a pair of 3-pointers, making things way too close.  When Justin Holiday missed a foul shot with 9.6 seconds to go, it gave Houston a chance to tie the game.  Trevor Ariza found himself wide open in the corner behind the arc and let it rip.  Luckily, it didn't go in and we were spared from having to watch an overtime period which surely would have featured more bad basketball.

Nikola Mirotic, fresh off his 20 first-half points in Tuesday's win over the Indiana Pacers, scored 19 in the first 24 minutes of this game and led everyone with 28 points.  Butler, having to step up his game in Rose's absence, had 21 and you could tell he knew his extra effort was necessary.  Doug McDermott didn't have his cleanest game as he missed a close layup as well as passed off late in the shot clock in the final minute, but he still scored 15 and finished one rebound short of a double-double.  Pau Gasol did complete the double-double with 12 and 10.

The win puts the 38-37 Bulls one game behind the Pacers for the final playoff spot in the East.  Still, anyone who watched this game knows their play resembled anything but that of a postseason participant.  Poor defense, blown chances on offense and a general lack of awareness left many shaking their heads.  Yet somehow, they got the better of a Rockets team, now half a game out of the last playoff spot in the West, fighting to stay alive itself.  Then again, someone had to win this awful game and it just so happened to be the Bulls.

With just seven games left, the Bulls have less than two weeks to show they're capable of putting together a gutsy run that will allow them to sneak into the playoffs.  All the messiness we've seen makes it tough to believe anything of the kind will happen, at least not easily.  It's that very reason many don't want to see them make the playoffs at all.  But we're not part of the franchise, so we can't dictate how things go.

The next game is Saturday against one of the teams the Bulls are battling with for playoff position:  the Detroit Pistons.  Last time they were at the United Center, so was I and I was treated to a quadruple-overtime loss.  There's no way history will repeat itself, right?  Then again, why am I convinced nothing will happen with them when there's always a chance it will?