The Latest Breaking News from Billy Donovan

CHICAGO — When the final buzzer of the NBA regular season sounded Sunday at the United Center, it marked a clear step back for the Chicago Bulls, who finished with a 40-42 record after a 103-81 win over the Detroit Pistons.

The Bulls play the Raptors on Wednesday, and one could cut the dramatic tension with a spork.

While LaVine will never be mistaken for a Jimmy Butler on the defensive side of the ball, he has made some subtle improvements in Year 9, helping Donovan guide the team to a top five rating.

For the Bulls to have a shot at the No. 8 seed in the East, they’ll have to overcome the Raptors’ size.

The Chicago Bulls have come out slow in the final week of the season, losing the first quarters of their last four games and struggling to dig themselves out of first-half deficits. As he prepares his players for their first taste of single elimination in the NBA play-in tournament, coach…

While the win over Dallas on Friday was more about pride than changing anything in the standings for the Bulls, with the Raptors losing to the Celtics, the play-in game was set.

With the No. 10 seed — and the final play-in spot — locked up, the Bulls sat DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Patrick Beverley against the Mavericks to give them a rest.

With the No. 10 seed locked up for Chicago, coach Billy Donovan hinted at potentially resting their core on Friday.

The opening minutes of Wednesday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks were an echo of an all-too-familiar pattern for the Chicago Bulls.

There’s no question that Dosunmu would rather be starting than his recent role of playing with the second unit, but putting in the work to fix his weaknesses will come this summer. For now, it’s about doing whatever he can to make this playoff run last as long as possible.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls clinched a spot in the NBA postseason Tuesday night — and they didn’t even have to do the heavy lifting.