Playtime is over.
It officially ended Sunday afternoon, as the Bulls helped division-rival Detroit reach their season-long tanking push of finishing with the worst record in the NBA, beating the Pistons 103-81 at the United Center.
For the Pistons, it was now about continuing to scout the 2023 draft class, hoping for lottery luck, and finding a new coach after Dwane Casey stepped down to take a role in the front office.
As for the Bulls, they start the uphill battle of fighting for a play-off spot in the Eastern Conference.
No easy task, considering they tip-off the play-in tournament Wednesday in Toronto, and if they can eliminate the Raptors, would then take on the loser of the Atlanta-Miami game in hopes of capturing the No. 8 seed and a fully paid trip to Milwaukee.
In other words, there is now very little room for error.
“For sure we expected to be in a better position than we are now,’’ veteran center Nikola Vucevic said about the regular season and how it ended. “We have the talent for it, but for whatever reason we never clicked consistently to do it. Going through everything we have this year has made us closer, tougher, and hopefully we can use that as a good thing.’’
They better use it for something, especially considering where executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas set the bar before the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
Despite obvious flaws, Karnisovas kept the core roster intact from last season, with the hopes of making the second round of the playoffs.
Now the hope is they can at least make the second play-in game.
Even with all the inconsistencies of a 40-42 season, veteran Bulls guard Alex Caruso sees that happening.
“I have all the confidence in the world in our guys,’’ Caruso said. “One game, take all, it’s essentially a Game 7, right? I feel like when you’ve put the money on the line this year for us, big games, important games that we needed, we’ve been able to put our best foot forward.’’
A foot that really wasn’t needed against the Pistons.
Taking the approach of a final preseason tune-up game, coach Billy Donovan went with all five starters, but pulled Vucevic and Caruso after the first half. Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Patrick Beverley played into the third quarter, but got the hook for the likes of the Dalen Terrys and Marko Simonovics.
LaVine led the Bulls with 17 points, while DeRozan chipped in 16, as the Bulls took advantage of 25 Detroit turnovers, scoring 30 points off of them.
Toronto will offer up a little different resistance than that.
Not only will the Bulls have to deal with as hostile an environment as many of these players have ever seen, but will take on a team that took two-of-three this season, with both Bulls losses happening in the Great White North.
DeRozan spent his first nine NBA seasons playing for the Raptors, so knows what awaits them this week.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve said a joke about it here and there, just how crazy it’s going to be,’’ DeRozan said. “The atmosphere is going to feel like it’s an Eastern Conference Finals game, not a play-in game, so it’s definitely going to feel crazy.
“Driving to the arena, walking into the arena, you’re definitely going to feel it. That’s the beauty of that place and those fans. Any competitor will want to be a part of that for sure.’’
That starts with DeRozan, who never wanted to leave the Toronto organization, and when they did trade him after the 2018 season, was admittedly in tears over their decision.
“The irony of the whole thing … just going back,’’ DeRozan said. “Full circle moment going back. It’s going to be interesting.’’
