The Bulls have been trying to climb back to .500 and out of the No. 9 spot for quite some time this season. The problem is whenever it gets within reach they again slip.
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The Bulls can see the summit.
Heck, just over a week ago they actually dug their high tops into a foothold, pushed themselves up on their tippy toes, almost getting their fingertips to barely brush the edge of it.
Sadly, just out of reach, courtesy of a Saturday afternoon loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles.
A microcosm of the entire 2023-24 season, as well as the anatomy of a mediocre roster.
“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.”
With one of those goals being 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 have been obtained.
The last time the Bulls were .500 this season came on Oct. 30, posting a 2-2 record with a win over the Pacers down in Indiana.
The spiral started there, highlighted by 12 losses in the next 15 games, with the Bulls seemingly hitting rock bottom in a blowout loss 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 win at Golden State last week, leaving them 31-32. The Clippers made sure it didn’t happen, however. The mud remains thick and unforgiving.
“Obviously, it is frustrating whenever you get … a couple times we’ve got to within a game of .500 and never been able to win that one game to get there, but at the same time we’re not going to stop fighting to get there,” Vucevic said. “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 buffer between the No. 8 spot consistently staying in that four- to five-game deficit, it would seem that the Bulls were destined to live on that 9th floor.
They’ve been without Zach LaVine (right foot surgery) most of the season, also lost Patrick Williams to season-ending foot surgery, are currently without Coby White (right hip), and then announced on Friday that rookie Julian Phillips will wear a walking boot until his next evaluation in a timetable yet determined.
Factor in that they’ve been without Lonzo Ball (left knee) yet again this season, and it’s not like there’s help on the way for the final push.
That’s why coach Billy Donovan avoided using adjectives like “frustrating” and “disappointing” when asked about so many nights under .500 this year.
“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.
“t’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 was any sunrise that the Bulls can look forward to? It’s coming the final month of this campaign, starting Saturday when they host the lowly Washington Wizards for the first of three meetings by mid-April.
In fact, the Bulls have the second easiest schedule left, with the only real obstacles being one more game with the Celtics and three games against Tom Thibodeau’s New York Knicks.