The latest Chicago Bulls news after a rout of the unabashedly tanking Toronto Raptors, including a return to a winning formula, yet another Play-In Tournament spot being solidified and more reasons to celebrate Coby White’s recent leap.
Bulls remember their winning formula
Chicago’s season changed when its offensive strategy changed. Whether it was initially the plan or not, the Bulls stopped chucking threes for 48 minutes, pushed their pace even further and began to concentrate on getting to the rim. That created easier looks and helped offensive focal points like Josh Giddey and Coby White get to the free-throw line.
In their win over the Raptors last night, Chicago got back to those basics.
The Bulls got to the line 27 times compared to Toronto’s 11. White was 5-for-5 from the stripe, Giddey was 6-for-8 and Talen Horton-Tucker, who randomly exploded for 27 points, was a perfect 8-for-8.
Nearly 60 percent of the Bulls’ shots came from inside the paint, and they connected 35 of those 52 attempts.
Chicago clinches a postseason berth
It won’t be exciting for many fans (maybe none at all), but the win over the Raptors guaranteed the Bulls a spot in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament for the third consecutive year.
Chicago won its first of two possible Play-In games the past two years before seeing its season end at the hands of the Miami Heat. With six games to go in the regular season, it looks like the Bulls and Heat will square off again with the winner facing the loser of the contest between the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic.
Chicago is one-half game behind Miami as of April 2. Whichever team grabs the No. 9 seed will play at home.
Coby White wins Eastern Conference Player of the Month
After becoming the first Bulls player to win back-to-back Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards not named Michael Jordan, White was fittingly given the honor of Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March.
The UNC alum was the ninth-best scorer in the NBA for those 31 days, averaging 27.7 points with shooting splits of 50/38/88. He’s scored at least 20 points in every game since Feb. 28 except for a seven-point dud in the Bulls’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on the month’s final day.
He bounced back with 28 points in the win over the Raptors and has solidified his role as Chicago’s go-to option, helping lead the team to a 12-9 record since the All-Star break and a 9-6 record in March.
