Team  	GB 
 1. 	 Detroit 	-- 
 2. 	 Miami 	        9.0 
 3. 	 New Jersey 	16.5 
 4. 	 Cleveland 	15.0 
 5. 	 Indiana 	18.0 
 6. 	 Washington 	18.5 
 7. 	 Philadelphia 	19.0 
 8. 	 Milwaukee 	20.0 
 9. 	 Chicago 	22.5 
 10. 	 Boston 	23.5 
 11. 	 Orlando 	28.0 
 12. 	 Toronto 	28.5 
 13. 	 Atlanta 	29.0 
 14. 	 Charlotte 	33.0 
 15. 	 New York 	32.5
 

C'mon Philly and Milwaukee.

With AI going down, Philly will be the team were most likely to catch.

I'll be glued to the television when the playoffs start, but it kind of sucks that the Finals matchup (Pistons vs Spurs) has already been determined. It's kind of like the Bills and Redskins back in 1992. You just knew that they'd be going head-to-head in the Super Bowl, no matter what.

You think? I think Dallas has a shot, and it would be a pretty big draw for ratings in that all the controversy with Mark Cuban as an owner.

Having said that, for all the offense Dallas has, they can't score on San Antonio.

The Spurs are just too hot to handle, and too cold to hold.

They're killing 'em softly with Duncan.

I'm actually picking the Suns (w/Amare) to make it to the finals.

Well, Bowen shut down Marion last year, but he is approaching the age of 35. Meanwhile, Marion is approaching his peak years, and he's looking like the best player in the Western Conference outside of Duncan, Garnett, and Bryant IMO. He is just amazing. That's a pretty bold statement considering that you have guys like Dirk, Nash, Artest, and McGrady in the fold, but you can make a strong case for him.

If Marion puts up his insane averages against the Spurs, they'll have a shot at defeating them in Game 7, but that's a big if considering how Bowen has abused him in the past. That is definitely the matchup to watch.

Also, Robert Horry has to be one of the most clutch players in the history of the NBA playoffs, if not the most clutch. I don't know if they have an answer for him.

Outside of that, it appears as though the Spurs will handle them pretty easily in the rebounding category. They're also tops in the NBA (or close to it) at shutting down the passing lanes & limiting assists.

Milwaukee in action tonight against the Hawks. Go Hawks

Shitttttttttttt

Milwaukee barely survives Atlanta at home, 1 point win. ATL was up 1 with about 2 to play.

Boooooooooooooooo.

I'm hoping the Pacers can finally learn to play to their potential against all opponents and not to the level of their opponents. They'd have a great shot at getting the 4 spot, if that were possible.

One thing for certain, the Pacers have responded well despite losing O'Neal. I wonder if they'll ever have another season where they don't face some huge form of adversity.

Haha that'd certainly be nice. Hopefully next year can be that year.

Do you think they will resign Peja?

I'm hoping so. He's got the option to not even opt for FA, IIRC. And from what I've seen so far, he's played great here and has said some good things.

The other question is...if they do resign Peja...will he be able to play alongside O'Neal for more than 30 games during a season?

I still think you'll see the Bulls talk about Peja. I realize he's more of a 3, but Deng can defend 2 guards while Peja is more of a 2 offensively (in a 3's body).

I think a decent offseason possibility would be the Bulls drafting Aldridge and someone else and than signing Peja.

Peja slides into the 2 spot on offense (deng defends the 2). It would give us a legitimate scoring threat (Peja the shooter), which should help our big men and allow Deng a little more room to slash to the basket.

Than deal Gordon for some more low post help or a good defensive 2. We know Peja likes Skiles and Paxson has been enamored with him for quite some time. The more I think about it, the more I think there is potential for Peja to be our 2 (even though he's a little slow).

Phily losses by 14 @ home to Toronto

Their gonna struggle without AI

3 games back of philly and 2 1/2 back of the bucks, correct?


Tomorrow in Miluwaukee is going to be huge

Don't know if ESPN.com's standing page has been updated. But it says the Bulls are 2.5 behind both Mil and Philly.

They have a chance to gain a game tomorrow when they play Mil. I'd consider this a must win game.

Philly and Boston lost today... so bulls are still 2.5 away from philly... with 2 left against philly playoffs are still very possible.

So by some miracle of God... The Bulls still sit 2.5 games behind Philly for the last playoff spot, with two games left to play against the Sixers. The problem is while the Bulls were sleeping the Celtics are only one game behind the Bulls and HOT. They could pass the Bulls and Sixers quickly if both teams keep slumping.

Boston finally dropped one, to the Lakers.

 	
 Eastern Conference
          Team 	        GB 
 1. 	 Detroit 	-- 
 2. 	 Miami 	        8.0 
 3. 	 New Jersey 	15.5 
 4. 	 Cleveland 	15.5 
 5. 	 Washington 	18.5 
 6. 	 Indiana 	19.0 
 7. 	 Milwaukee 	20.0 
 8. 	 Philadelphia 	22.0 
 9. 	 Chicago 	24.5 
 10. 	 Boston 	26.0 
 11. 	 Toronto 	29.0 
 12. 	 Orlando 	29.0 
 13. 	 Atlanta 	31.5 
 14. 	 New York 	33.5 
 15. 	 Charlotte 	35.5

Bold = Clinched Playoff Berth
Strike = Eliminated from playoff contention

Mind as well have Detroit in bold, they just cant blow it now

They are bold

3 1/2 back from philly... and Iverson looks like he is in good health...

season is done... hope for a good draft pick

How despressing has this last month been? The Bulls have been knocking on the door of the playoffs all of this time, and have refused to take control of their own destiny and win the games they have to win. Plus it seems like every game has involved a blown lead, where we should have put the game away and won. Instead now we sit 3.5 games out of the 8th spot, and needing help, in addition to getting our heads out of our asses and winning some games.

*sigh*

I guess this means more draft threads, instead of playoff threads.

This year, it means that.

Next year, and the year after that...the fact that we're down this year will be directly related to the future playoff threads.

looks like chicken little got ahead of himself

13 games left most are at home... 1 1/2 back of Philly... with two left against them...

Bulls are still right in this thing...

Bulls only 1.5 games out of 8th

Still got 2 left with Philly too.

We need to beat them.

Two games in the loss column though... That' what matters.

barring a miracle Philly has lost to the Pistons...

that makes the choke job last night hurt a little bit less.

Bulls better beat the bobcats....

We are still just 1.5 games out. The Bulls are making us fans sweat out, if we were 4 out we'd be focused on the draft and if we were a few up we'd be focused on the playoffs.

That said I really look forward to see how the team responds after Skiles harsh practice following that loss to Orlando.

Teams clinching and dropping out.

1.  	 Detroit  	-- 
2. 	 Miami 	        10.0 
3. 	 New Jersey 	14.5 
4. 	 Cleveland 	15.0 
5. 	 Washington 	21.0 
6. 	 Milwaukee 	21.5 
7. 	 Indiana 	23.0 
8. 	 Philadelphia 	24.5 
9. 	 Chicago 	25.5 
10. 	 Boston 	28.5 
11. 	 Orlando 	29.5 
12. 	 Toronto 	32.0 
13. 	 Atlanta 	35.5 
14. 	 Charlotte 	38.5 
15. 	 New York 	38.5 

We're a movin' on up,
To the east side.
To a de-luxe apartment,
In the sky-.
Mo-vin' on up
To the east side,
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen,
A beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lot of trying
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin our turn at bat.
As long as we live
It's you and me baby.
There ain't nothing wrong with that.

Philly crushed the pathetic Knicks on Sunday. The only good news was the Knicks lost another game. Philly is back to 1.5 up on the Bulls.

The Knicks are awful so that was no shocker. This is going to be a huge week though. We'll get a game against the Sixers plus the Sixers will have a tougher schedule than us the rest of the way.

We take care of business and we can be that last playoff team.

We have a home and home with the Sixers.

knicks and sixers both losing big

yippee

every time i watch deng drive and score i get giddy thinking about next year.
He really can take over this team with an off season where he is actually aloud to shoot instead of just rehab

Next year-bulls are a 4 seed, deng is an all star

As i watch noc playing very well against the pacers center jeff foster it occurred to me to look at espn insder hollinger forecast from the beginning of the year and i think he was spot on

"Nocioni needs to play power forward, which was his position in Europe. It's a risk to put a player of his size at that position, but Nocioni is so unrelentingly physical that he probably could hold his own defensively. He also might get called for fewer fouls, as officials tend to look the other way more often in the post. Offensively, a switch might help get his game in gear. He would have a quickness edge on opposing power forwards and have an easier time getting to the basket."

makes sense to me to make him a super sub at both forward spots next year, now that he's a better shooter

He's so athletic and quick. He's lengthy and his shot has improved so much in just one season.

His bball IQ still needs to improve but he's able to go in and put up great shots. Sooon he's going to learn how to position himself where either he'll make the shots when he drives or draw the foul (like some of the greats do).

Plus as his outside shot develops he's only going to turn into a better driver because teams are going to have to respect that shot that much more. Defensively he'll be above avg at the SF position, but he needs to add some more muscle so he doesn't get shoved around as much when a stronger SF tries to back him down.

How huge was last night? The Sixers got completely whipped by the Lebron Cavs, and now the Bulls only are one loss behind Philly, with two games left against them. The Bulls control their own fate. Pretty much they can win and take care of business, but must have AT LEAST a split. The key is that they HAVE to find someone who can contain Allen Iverson. One of the PGs has to step forward and play some monster defense against a superior opponent.

From one of them ESPN.com chats:

sixer lost Tonight


Orlando beat the Piston which makes me feel a little better about the Bulls recent loss to the Magic.

Things are looking up

Sixers are in a complete free fall. Tomorrow they will have nothing hopefully.

bulls are lookin solid lately, but who is to kid, do we really stand a chance against the pistons, not really but it would be pretty cool to go to the playoffs two years in a row

One of the reason I've been doubting the bulls chances in the playoffs has been there inability to string together wins...

recently they've been bucking that trend... Now I might be overeacting to a soft stretch in the schedule, in fact I'm sure I am, but I think the team we've seen these past 5 or 6 games can hang with the Pistons... maybe even beat them.

Ya, I said it.