Chicago Bulls lose to the Atlanta Hawks, clinch spot in Play-in tournament

It was a bittersweet day for the Chicago Bulls.

© Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

After what seemed like a long and winding road, the Chicago Bulls have officially locked up a spot in the NBA Play-in tournament, following Orlando Magic's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the day. However, the Bulls were hardly in any mood to celebrate after blowing a ripe chance to move up to the ninth seed following a disastrous 123-105 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at the United Center on Tuesday night.

At 38-41, the Bulls are now two games behind the Hawks and the Toronto Raptors with just three games remaining in the regular season.

Not our night. pic.twitter.com/0R3HTyi3VW

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 5, 2023

Sluggish start

For the second game in a row, the Bulls started the game like they had lead boots on. Rotations were a step slow and the communication between teammates was iffy. The Hawks quickly took advantage as Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 11 of his 26 points during a 13-2 opening run for Atlanta—hardly the start the Bulls wanted to have especially against a team that was missing All-Star guard Trae Young.

"I don't think we brought the physicality and energy needed. We weren't locked in. From the beginning, we were playing from behind," Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic said. "We didn't have the approach needed, for whatever reason. It's unfortunate. Give them credit. They played a great game. They shot the ball really well. They defended well. They did a lot of stuff well. They deserved to win."

LaVine frustrated

Given the effort the Bulls have exerted to put themselves in a position to have a higher seed, it was disappointing for the Bulls to come out so flat. It wasn't just Vucevic who was unhappy, as All-Star two-guard Zach LaVine was frustrated with how his team played, too.

"Every one of these games is a must-win game for us," LaVine said. "Obviously we didn't do good enough. They wanted it more than us. It's tough to have that type of result at this point in the season."

"We don't want to come out flat like this in what I think is the most important game of the year. It took a lot for us to play ourselves out of the play-in. We're trying to get a little higher seed. It's frustrating," added LaVine who led the way for Chicago with 26 points and six assists.

Pat with the steal, Zach with the buzzer-beater.@ZachLaVine | @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/sNhFR04CNY

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 5, 2023