Adding to these difficulties was Cristiano Felicio's departure during Friday's game. He suffered a lower right leg strain and will be out a week. While his absence doesn't hurt as badly as Butler's, it lessens what little frontcourt depth the Bulls have. He's shown plenty of promise this season, but needs to prove he's not just an overachiever who happens to have a solid game here and there.
Losing any depth, especially the type that Butler provides, is a problem no team can afford, but especially not the Bulls, who let a potential victory slip away late in regulation on Friday before going down in the extra period. As a .500 team, anything to cripple your chances of making the playoffs must not be taken lightly. That's a time when the remaining players, particularly those in the rotation, really have to dig deep. It might not be enough to make up what your missing teammates contribute, but it's better than feeling sorry for yourself and going through the motions.
Amazingly, the Bulls have somehow bumped up to the seventh seed in the East at 25-26. That would be crazy enough by itself being in the inferior conference except the 22-28 Denver Nuggets hold the last seed in the West. It's like the universe is demanding the Bulls be one of the 16 teams left standing in April. While the playoffs are still no guarantee, you can't let up when you've given yourself no room for error.
This won't be easy because the Bulls aren't built to have any sustained success this year unless you count mediocrity as success. But if they do just enough over the final two months of the season, they'll be in, though likely as fodder for whoever they draw. Then again, just getting there is what management wants, right? Everyone gets what they want.
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