At this time tomorrow we will know who the Bulls will be playing in the first round of the playoffs. Or in other words, if things work out right, the Bulls will be playing anyone other than the Pistons. Not that the Pistons are unbeatable, but it would be very, very pleasant to not have to even think about them until the conference finals.
While the Bulls will host Toronto tonight, Indiana will host Orlando and Washington will be in Detroit, who will likely be suiting up the team trainers and Rasheed Wallace's posse. I don't see the Wizards losing this one.
I'm way too lazy to figure out how all the tiebreakers work, but, luckily, Blogabull wasn't and has it all broken down for you right here. It would appear that the most likely scenario would be the Bulls winning and everyone else winning and the Bulls earning the seventh seed. Which is fine. I'd much rather see Miami than Detroit. Yeah, I realize that the whuppin' the Bulls laid on the Heat on Sunday wasn't indicative of reality, and I realize Alonzo Mourning will be back in some capacity, but I honestly think the Bulls can win a series with Miami. I mean that. Call me crazy. Sure, it would be a major surprise, and I wouldn't bet the house on it. But the Heat, as talented as Shaq and Wade are, just doesn't frighten me all that much. They're good, but not great. Provided the Bulls play smart and have a little luck come their way, the Heat can be beaten. I mean, any team featuring Antoine Walker in a prominent role can be beaten.
Then again, maybe Orlando can beat Indiana, which I think would mean the Bulls would face New Jersey, who, like Miami, doesn't scare me all that much. It would also be nice to see many gratuitious shots of Beyonce in the front row...and even better would be Jay Z looking constipated and disappointed. Yeah, that would be nice. 99 problems and the Nets losing is one.
But let's not look ahead. First things first. The first thing the Bulls must do is take care of business against the Raptors tonight. Beat the Raptors and the one certainty is that the Bulls will not be the eighth seed and therefore will not be playing the Pistons. There. That's all you need to know. My head hurts.
Here we go now.
