Now that the Chicago Bulls are firmly at the top of the Eastern Conference, the conversation has shifted from whether the Bulls are a playoff-level team to whether this team can compete for the championship, and although their decision to spend a lot of money to sign Demar DeRozan in the offseason has attracted criticism from almost all the media, the Bulls have clearly overcome adversity and proved their strength.
While there's still more than half a season to play, and the rankings are sure to change a lot between now and the playoffs, it's becoming increasingly clear who the top teams in the Eastern Conference are. If the playoffs start today, two of last year's playoff teams will have to play in the playoffs, while two other teams will miss the playoffs altogether (including the Atlanta Hawks, who made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year). In addition, with the emergence of a number of strong new teams, including the Bulls, the NBA's long-standing situation of strong west and weak east has been broken, and the power of the league has been further shifted from the West to the East.
The Bulls are off to a hot start to the season, with they currently have a 26-10 record and lead second-placed Brooklyn Nets by an absolute margin of 2.5 wins. With the Chicago Bulls looking more and more like real contenders, which teams would they most like to hit in the playoffs? The problem is that the Bulls aren't the only up-and-coming team, as teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets, who haven't made it to the playoffs before, pose a serious playoff threat to their opponents. With so many talented teams in the East right now, deciding which opponent the Bulls most want to meet in the first round of the playoffs is no easy task.
Let's assume that the Bulls can finish the regular season with a record of the top four in the East, then they will have home advantage in the first round of the playoffs, considering that the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat are most likely the remaining three teams in the top four in the East, so we also exclude the Bulls when considering their first-round opponents.
1 Charlotte Wasp
The Chicago Bulls have played 36 games this season so far, and in 35 of those games, DeRozan or Zach Lavin have scored first on the team, with the exception of last year's Nov. 30 game against the Charlotte Hornets, when both DeRozan and LaVine were absent. Bulls center Nikola Vucevic shined in this game, scoring 30 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists, a game-high plus-minus of +31 to help the Bulls beat the Hornets by 14 points, which further demonstrated Vucevic's huge influence on the game. It's no coincidence that the Hornets' low-post defense has been lackluster throughout the season, with a frontcourt rotation of Mason Plumley and P.J. Washington completely out of the way against the NBA's elite interior players.
The data also supports the Hornets' view of poor defense at the low post, as under their defense, opponents rank first in the league in second scoring and third in the fast attack, and these two items happen to be the strongest points for the Bulls. At the same time, they rank sixth in turnovers and seventh in fast-break scores, which shows that the Hornets like to play fast-paced games, but even if their offense is sharp, their defense is also sore in front of the Bulls' offense.
It's also important to consider that not putting too much pressure on DeRozan and Lavin in the first round could give the Bulls an added benefit. As we all know, DeMar's past in the playoffs is not glorious, and LaVine has also received a lot of criticism for his lack of playoff experience, and by playing against an opponent who does not need the two to play best in every game, it can help the team relieve the pressure and give the team a good start in the playoffs.
2 Toronto Raptors
There's no better chance for DeRozan to wash away his trash brothers' notoriety than playoffs against his former team, and DeRozan will once again be in the spotlight, but this time he's equipped with a bunch of players who support him and his teammates can actually fill the void when he doesn't launch offense.
Like the Hornets, the Raptors' interior defense isn't much better, with the Raptors' tallest player on the team being Ken Birch, who is 2.08 meters tall, and he's not the kind of player who has a strong presence in the paint. The Raptors' interior rotation consists of Pascal Siakam, Presches Achuva, Birch and Chris Boucher, who simply aren't enough to support the interior defense, which is why the Raptors' defensive rebounds rank first in the league.
The Raptors are indeed a well-trained team that knows how to use a tight outside defense against superstars, but the Bulls have multiple options on the offensive end, and even if the Raptors can effectively suppress Lavin, DeRozan will single-handedly crush them. Taking another 10,000 steps back, even if the Raptors can limit the play of these two stars at the same time, Vucevic will become the best player in the game, and will inevitably play a dominant performance on the inside, if the Raptors pack the inside line, the Bulls also have pitchers such as Lonzo Ball, Kobe White and Dosem.
While the Bulls lack other playoff experience of the same level of Eastern Strength, it's an absolute nightmare for the Raptors, who crush the Raptors across the board in terms of offense, defense and bench depth, and while the Raptors may be better than expected in the playoffs, they may be one of the Bulls' most wanted opponents.
3 New York Knicks
Although the Knicks are currently only tenth in the East with a record of 19 wins and 21 losses, they started the season equally slowly, but eventually became the fifth-ranked team in the East at the end of the season, and I believe that with their lineup talent, they can also come later this season.
The Knicks don't have the interior defensive problems of the Hornets and Raptors, because Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson can limit Vucevic's play under the basket, but I think there is still an opportunity in this lineup that can be exploited in the playoffs, that is, head coach Thibodeau. Halfway through the season, the Knicks still haven't found a lineup for themselves, derrick Rose, Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier and Alec Burks are still vying for the position of main defender and have all experienced ups and downs, and while all of these players have their strengths, none of them can really change the course of the playoff series.
The Knicks are the only one in the Knicks who has such an ability, but Randall has been out of shape lately, and has even been booed by home fans at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are somehow very dependent on Randall, but Randall's actual abilities don't match it, so Randall either forces himself to try to be a player he is not, or chooses to give the ball to his teammates in the hope that they will have enough strength to beat their opponents in a matched game, but unfortunately, neither strategy seems to work so far.
The Bulls' attempts to pinch Randall in the lows during this season's game against the Knicks forced Randall to often make difficult shots, which gave the Bulls a lot of opportunities to attack quickly, and even if Randle chose to pass, the Knicks' outside line lacked reliable pitchers.
To sum up, the Knicks simply don't have enough offensive firepower to keep up with the Bulls, which is the ultimate difference between the two teams. Coupled with the Knicks' unbalanced roster and Thibodeau's notorious ultra-short rotation strategy, I believe the Bulls are more competitive than the Knicks in the seven-game series. No opponent can be easily beaten in this year's East, but these three teams should be the best choice for the Bulls to safely advance to the second round.