Can Chicago Bulls salvage a playoff berth?

Assuming it was possible to bet against the Bulls missing the playoffs in early January, the odds would certainly have been in your favor.

Back on Jan. 2, the Bulls were 10 games over .500 and sat No. 2 in the Eastern Conference.

One long injury-riddled slump later, the Bulls' record is an even 30-30. If the season ended today, they would not make the playoffs.

"Things don't look too good right now," Pau Gasol told reporters after Wednesday's loss at Orlando. "But hopefully we can change things around and get some momentum starting the next game at home. Every game that goes by we don't get to win, it will be more difficult. So we have to play every single game like it's our last one, like it's extremely meaningful."

There's always a silver lining and the Bulls have a few. There are still 22 games left in the regular season and the Bulls don't have far to climb. As of Thursday morning, they were a half-game behind eighth-place Detroit and 4 games behind fourth-place Miami. Win games and they'll get in.

There's nothing too difficult about the Bulls' remaining schedule. There are 11 at home and 11 away; 13 of the 22 remaining opponents are currently below .500 and only a couple games remain against elite teams. The Bulls visit San Antonio next Thursday and have a home date with Cleveland on April 9.

The biggest issue now is getting players back. Taj Gibson joined the injured list, missing the Orlando game with a hamstring strain. He'll have a couple days to get better before the Bulls host Houston on Saturday at the United Center.

The Bulls are hoping Jimmy Butler can go full speed at Friday's practice. He has missed 11 games since suffering a left knee strain on Feb. 5 against Denver. If all goes well, Butler could play Saturday or maybe Monday against Milwaukee.

Nikola Mirotic is still trying to recover from an appendectomy and hematoma removal, which have kept him out since Jan. 28. Mirotic's return is probably a couple weeks away.

With a short-handed lineup, the Bulls were dismal defensively during their trip to Florida. There's plenty to dissect in their performance, but the Bulls are relying heavily on young guys (Doug McDermott, Bobby Portis and Tony Snell) to play significant minutes, and fielding a lineup of inexperienced defenders won't win games in the NBA.

"Honestly, we have a lot of holes everywhere," Mike Dunleavy said after the Orlando game, according to bulls.com. "Not getting into our coverages, not going with the game plan, not going with the individual tendencies of our opponents. … It's kind of all across the board. We've got a hodgepodge group of guys going right now."

Including the Denver game when he got hurt, the Bulls are 3-9 since losing Butler. It's probably accurate to say the Bulls will make the playoffs only if Butler returns soon and the Bulls "big three" of Butler, Gasol and Derrick Rose stay healthy the rest of the season.

Coach Fred Hoiberg can talk about grit and toughness every day, but the Bulls won't win consistently with the current lineup.

"Believe it or not they've been focused at practice, focused at shootarounds, focused in the locker room," Hoiberg said Wednesday. "We have to find a way to carry that over and gain confidence. Once those lights turn on, you have to have that confidence to go out and compete."

Ideally, the Bulls would prefer to avoid the No. 8 seed, which would likely mean a first-round date with Cleveland. They have won eight in a row against No. 2 Toronto, and the Bulls should be able to compete in a seven-game series with any other team in the East. Should is the key word here.

"We've got 22 games to get it figured out," Hoiberg added. "We're on the outside looking in now. I would hope pride would kick in and you come out with a defensive mentality and get off to a better start."

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What's left for the East playoff contenders?

Here's a breakdown of the remaining schedule for the Eastern Conference teams currently sitting in fourth through 10th place:

Team Home-Away vs. .500+ vs. .600+

BULLS 11-11 9 4

Washington Wizards 9-13 12 3

Detroit Pistons 12-9 14 2

Indiana Pacers 12-9 11 5

Charlotte Hornets 12-10 10 3

Atlanta Hawks 10-11 15 7

Miami Heat 10-12 10 3