The Chicago Bulls are in the race for home-court advantage in the Play-In Tournament. Well, home-court advantage in the first game. They are all but locked into a matchup with the Atlanta Hawks in the 9-10 Play-In game, but either team could end the season with the ninth seed, giving them home-court advantage for the contest.
However, some recent struggles have seen the Bulls slide backward a bit. Combined with two big Hawks wins over the East-leading Boston Celtics, the Bulls are only a game ahead of Atlanta in the ninth seed now. If Chicago wants to keep their spot in ninth, they’ll need to give it their all down the stretch of the season.
DeMar DeRozan recently spoke about this mindset. (H/t Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune)
“We got eight left,” DeRozan said. “Can’t depend on nobody else. We’re going to have to continue to fight for our lives. That’s going to be even more exhausting. We have to show how much we want it.”
DeRozan wants to see his team fight harder than they ever have before.
