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BN Chicago Bulls The Bad and Injured Wizards,....

The Bad and Injured Wizards, Looking at the Remaining Games, ISO DeMar, and Other Bulls Bullets

Elias Schuster Elias Schuster
Mar 25, 2024
Chicago Bulls
DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls

Disappointed that March Madness is on hold until Thursday? Don’t be! The Chicago Bulls play the Washinton Wizards tonight!

  • The Bulls have only beaten two opponents by more than 20 points this season, and the Washington Wizards are one of them. They dismantled this tanking group on March 16 in a 127-98 victory. They shot 57.6 percent from the field, dished 33 assists, and got a combined 63 points from Ayo Dosunmu and Nikola Vucevic. Again, it was one of the very few times this season that things looked easy for the Bulls. And anything less than a similar performance tonight would be a failure.

  • Washington is horrible. They are 13-58 on the season and continue to possess the single-worst defensive rating in the NBA. Shockingly, they have strung together back-to-back wins over the Kings and Raptors, but that still shouldn’t make anything less than a blowout win acceptable. This is particularly true when we consider the Wizards’ injury report. Leading scorer Kyle Kuzma has been ruled out with a left shoulder injury, while big man Eugene Omoruyi (who got into it with Vucevic the last time these two played) is set to miss his fourth-straight game. Leading assist man Tyus Jones also remains out with a back problem. Oh, and Jordan Poole is questionable with an ankle injury. So not only are the Wizards one of the worst teams in the league, but they’re also extremely banged up. This better not be a game, Bulls!

  • The Chicago Bulls followed up a chance to get back to .500 last week with back-to-back double-digit losses. They now sit at 34-37 on the season with just 11 games to go. While we can’t say that finishing with 41 wins is entirely out of the picture, it isn’t the easiest to find seven wins left on the calendar. Here is a look at the remaining slate …

    • vs. WAS
    vs. IND
    vs. BRK
    @ MIN
    vs. ATL
    vs. NYK
    @ ORL
    vs. NYK
    @ DET
    @ WAS
    @ NYK

  • The fact they play the Knicks three times over the final six games is not ideal. I suppose it’s possible New York ends up resting certain players over the last week or so (thus giving the Bulls an advantage), but they’re in a pretty heated standings race right now. Only a half-game separates New York from the third-place Cavs, while the same margin stands between an Orlando team that sits fifth. We could see the jockeying for playoff positions continue down to the wire.

  • Indeed, the last chance to stack some wins will likely be the next four games. The Chicago Bulls have played fairly well against the Pacers so far this year, while the Nets are 2-8 in their last 10 contests and are likely thinking about the draft lottery. Even if they were to rattle off three in a row and put themselves at 37-37, however, Minnesota will have a chance to knock them right back down this Sunday. Tough.

  • Speaking of which, should getting back to .500 even matter? I do think it would be somewhat impressive considering the team’s 5-14 start. Not to mention, it’d be nice knowing that Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White were a drastic part of that turnaround. But what bothers me the most is knowing that it’d likely be another excuse for this front office. I have very little doubt they’d use a .500 record to justify running this thing back. At least finishing below that mark for a second straight season would make that slightly harder to do.

    • DeMar DeRozan and Ayo Dosunmu of the Chicago Bulls
    © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

  • A total of 25 players have averaged at least 3.0 isolation possessions per game this season, per NBA Stats. Among that group, DeMar DeRozan sits fourth in points per possession at 1.12. The only players that have proven better are Kawhi Leonard, Dejounte Murray, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While it may not be everybody’s favorite thing to watch at times, there is a reason everybody stands back and gives him the ball in the biggest moments. Few players can dominate one-on-one like DeRozan.

  • Welp … that doesn’t sound great!

    • Ian Happ’s Hamstring Recovery Has “Plateaued”

  • Prospect watch!

    • Six Blackhawks Prospects Will Play in the Frozen Four Field

    Read More

    written by

    Elias Schuster

    Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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