It's Official: Bulls Clinch Playoff Spot!

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Apr 11, 2005 5:30PM

Hope you got up early on Saturday to get your playoff tickets -- Chicagoist did! Because with their 110-97 victory over the Toronto Raptors Saturday night, the Chicago Bulls cliched their first playoff berth since the Jordan era.

The Bulls are even clearly in the drivers' seat for the 4th seed and home court advantage in the first round. At 44-32, the Bulls have a 3 game lead over Washington and Indiana for the seed with only 6 games left to play.

Chicagoist wants to take this opportunity to remind you that we were one of the few who predicted the Bulls to make the playoffs. In fact, we even predicted why they'd make the playoffs as far back as the NBA Draft. Sure enough, the unselfish team-first play of the the Bulls rookies along with Kirk Heinrich gave this team an entirely new personality -- one that understood teamwork, defense and winning.

While they've now made the playoffs, Chicagoist is realistic about how far they can go. We don't expect to see a 7th trophy added to rhe Berto Center case just yet. While we see them getting past their first round opponent, we see them falling in the second round to the Miami Heat. While hot of late (winning 12 of 13 with at least one starter out every game) they're just too inexperienced and too banged up. Were Deng, Curry, etc. all healthy maybe they'd give Miami a good fight. But we just don't see that happening under the current situation. Next year however, they're clearly going to be one of the elite teams in the East! And in the meantime, Chicagoist is going to enjoy soaking up some playoff basketball at the United Center.