Ranking Bulls' Ideal 1st-Round Playoff Matchups
The Chicago Bulls are huffing and puffing their way through the final stretch of the 2021-22 NBA season.
Once the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the fifth-seeded Bulls are closer to No. 7 (two games up) than No. 4 (three games back). That changes the calculus for an exercise like this since Chicago's potential first-round opponents have shifted of late.
Rather than lock horns with a play-in tournament participant, the Bulls are likelier to draw one of the East's elites. But of the four teams at the top, which one should Chicago want to see in the opening round? That's the question we're here to answer by ranking the Bulls' three most favorable realistic opponents based on matchups and play styles.
3. Philadelphia 76ers
Does anyone really want to tussle with Joel Embiid and James Harden in a win-or-go fishing series? Probably not, but when the alternative is a first-round date with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, this might be a slightly less brutal alternative.
The Bulls went winless in four tries against the Sixers this season, but they could have some avenues to success come playoff time.
If Chicago gets healthy—a big if with Lonzo Ball's rehab hitting a snag—then it might have the perimeter stoppers needed to make Harden and Tyrese Maxey uncomfortable. Alex Caruso is pesky and relentless, Patrick Williams adds length and agility to the equation and Ball brings a little of everything.
The question is what to do with Embiid, and the answer might be pray. But that's the reality for basically every team in this league that matches up with Philly, and even if Nikola Vucevic isn't the stingiest defender, at least his 6'10", 260-pound frame matches up relatively well with the 7'0", 280-pound Embiid from a physical standpoint.
2. Miami Heat
To be clear, there's nothing comfortable about matching up with Miami.
The Heat are overloaded in the toughness department, and almost every player on their roster has postseason experience. That alone could be a challenge for a Bulls team making its first playoff trip together.
Still, any postseason success Chicago enjoys will probably come at the offensive end, and that's where the Bulls can have an advantage. Chicago has two players averaging more than 24 points in DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. Miami's top point-producer is former Bull Jimmy Butler at 21.2.
The Bulls' superior scorers could loom large late in close games. To that end, Chicago has a 119.4 offensive rating and plus-12.3 net rating in clutch situations—final five minutes, margin of five points maximum—while Miami's marks are 100.0 and minus-5.3, respectively, per NBA.com.
1. Boston Celtics
Admittedly, this could be asking for trouble, as there hasn't been a better team in 2022 than Boston. So why put the Celtics at the top?
A few things. First, Boston is the lone elite outfit Chicago has enjoyed some success against. The Bulls have a win over the Celtics—and zero against the 76ers, Heat and Bucks—and a two-point loss that LaVine missed. Granted, both meetings were more than two months ago, so they probably aren't the best barometers, but maybe it does something for the Bulls' psyche knowing they have defeated this club.
Second, the Celtics' otherwise dominant defense has had some trouble limiting mid-range shots. Boston has allowed the second-most attempts and fifth-most makes from that zone, which, as you might have guessed given DeRozan's presence, happens to be one of Chicago's specialties. The Bulls average the Association's most mid-range makes and shoot better from that range than everyone other than the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns.
If Chicago can get its offense going, Boston could have trouble keeping up. Jayson Tatum is a top-shelf net-shredder, and Jaylen Brown isn't too far behind, but that's it for high-level scorers on the Shamrocks.