Bobcats charging, but schedule favors Bulls
While the Bulls let a winnable game slip away Tuesday at Indiana, Michael Jordan was parked in the front row of Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena, imploring his Bobcats to pull closer to his former team in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
The Bobcats complied, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 94-84. It wasn't much of an upset considering Charlotte has won six of its last seven games against Phil Jackson's squad, including a season sweep this year.
But with Charlotte's 111-109 double-overtime loss at Boston on Wednesday night, the Bobcats fell 1½ games behind the Bulls, though just 1 back in the loss column. Meanwhile, the Pistons lost 111-98 to the New Jersey Nets, bringing the Bulls within a half-game of seventh place.
While teams such as Milwaukee, New Jersey, New York and Indiana faded out of playoff contention, Charlotte has gone 12-6 since Feb. 25 and already clinched the season series against the Bulls, leading 2-0 with one game left to play.
First-year coach Larry Brown has a long history of building winners, and the Bobcats added playoff experience to the roster by bringing in Boris Diaw and Raja Bell from Phoenix, plus Vladimir Radmanovic from the Lakers.
Diaw and Bell have combined for 28 points per game, while forward Gerald Wallace averaged 19.5 points and shot 58.4 percent from the field in March.
Based on the schedules, though, the Bulls (36-40) still have a clear advantage. They play five of their final six games at home, beginning Saturday afternoon against New Jersey, and are 10-1 at the United Center since the all-star break.
The Bobcats get five of their last seven games on the road, while Detroit has four of seven away from home.
"We have to get back to work," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said after Tuesday's loss.
Had the Bulls been able to pull off wins against Toronto and Indiana the past few days, they'd have legitimate thoughts about moving higher than seventh place in the East. Instead, they're facing a fight to the finish.
They led the Pacers 103-96 with 3:46 remaining, then failed to score for more than three minutes while Indiana ran off 9 straight points. Ben Gordon's jumper tied the score at 105-105, but after the Bulls failed to corral a defensive rebound, T.J. Ford buried a 13-foot fadeaway with 3.9 seconds left for the game-winner.
"We should have gotten to the hole a little more and tried to get to the free throw line," said guard Derrick Rose, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds. "But we didn't do it. We have to learn how to finish games. It feels good that we battled, but it hurts a lot that we lost this game."
The Bulls took Wednesday off and have some time to heal. Forward John Salmons skipped the Indiana game due to a groin strain, and he's not a sure thing to play Saturday against the Nets. Rose spent most of his bench time stretching a sore back, while Kirk Hinrich played through a couple of nagging injuries.
"Every team has guys hurt right now," forward Tyrus Thomas said. "We missed out on an opportunity to really grab hold of that playoff spot. We need every win right now."
The Bulls have one game left against each of their playoff competitors. They host Charlotte on April 13, then visit Detroit two days later for the second-to-last game of the regular season. The Bobcats play at Detroit on Sunday.