Inside The Nets

Nets Face Must-Win Battle vs. Bulls As Playoff Race Heats Up

Brooklyn needs to leave Chicago with a victory if it hopes to make the postseason.

Kyler Fox

Dec 2, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) loses the ball to Brooklyn Nets center Day'Ron Sharpe (20) and forward Jalen Wilson (22) during the second half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images
Dec 2, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) loses the ball to Brooklyn Nets center Day'Ron Sharpe (20) and forward Jalen Wilson (22) during the second half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images / Matt Marton-Imagn Images
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Tomorrow night, the Brooklyn Nets travel to the United Center for an Eastern Conference tilt with the Chicago Bulls. However, the matchup's implications far surpass usual expectations for a Thursday night contest between two lower-tier squads.

With the NBA Playoffs on the horizon, the Nets trail the Bulls by five full games for the tenth seed. Brooklyn once was just one game out of reach, but a seven-game skid allowed Chicago to create a slight separation.

Winners in three-straight, the Bulls have dispatched of the Orlando Magic behind Coby White's career-high 44, the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers thanks to a dominant back-to-back stretch from Josh Giddey. The streak gave Chicago a trio of inter-conference wins in the span of just four days.

If — and there isn't much information available that backs one way or the other — the Nets hope to make one final push for that final play-in spot, it'll have to end the Bulls' heater. Picking up a victory will cut the five-game gap to just four, allowing Brooklyn more flexibility over its remaining 17 games.

Head coach Jordi Fernandez and company will need Chicago to experience a similar drought to their own. Following tomorrow night's battle, the Bulls get nine-straight games against the Western Conference, including matchups with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers (twice). That gauntlet may be the key to the Nets securing a playoff berth in Fernandez's first season at the helm.

With such a brutal stretch ahead for Chicago, the third meeting of the season may not matter as much as it appears. While it would be fantastic for the half of Brooklyn's fanbase that is "anti-tank" to shave off a game from the gap, losing tomorrow doesn't end all hopes of reaching the postseason.

Cam Thomas appears to have returned from injury for good, as has Noah Clowney, and D'Angelo Russell seems unlikely to miss extended time with his ankle injury.

The Nets will be forced to adapt regardless of the outcome against the Bulls, but picking up a win tomorrow after their disappointing end to February may help soften the damage that seven-game losing streak caused.

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Kyler Fox
KYLER FOX

Kyler is a staff writer for Brooklyn Nets on SI, where he covers all things related to the team. He is also the managing editor of The Torch, St. John's University's independent student-run newspaper.

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