No one should make any assumptions in the NBA, even though there are about a quarter of the teams that are pretty much done for the season already.
That's especially true for the Bulls, who suffered an embarrassing loss to the Clippers a week ago Saturday. If not for that, the Bulls would have won 10 in a row before their loss to the Knicks on Christmas Day.
Now, however, the Bulls are headed into a stretch where nine of their next 10 games are against teams with losing records -- the only exception being the Jan. 8 date with the Celtics at the United Center. The other games are against the Bucks (tonight), Nets, Cavaliers, Raptors, Nets again, 76ers, Pistons, Bobcats and Pacers. Five of those are at home, four on the road.
If the Bulls are going to be serious about getting past one round in the playoffs this year, they really should win all of those games. That'd be a really good thing, to put together a nice run while Joakim Noah is out, and then get him back at full strength for the playoffs.
Tonight's game begins at 7 p.m. CST and will be televised on CSN Chicago Plus (check your cable system for the channel).