Time of death on the Bulls’ 2022-23 season: Sunday, 4:58 pm.
Guard Patrick Beverley can talk about still playing the remaining 17 games, “swaggy, always swaggy,’’ and veteran DeMar DeRozan can point out that “as long as you’ve got time, you’ve got a chance,’’ but with only 17 regular-season games left, this Bulls team took one more step toward “1-2-3 Cancun!’’ then challenging for a spot in the play-in tournament.
They can thank Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton for that.
The Pacers guard hit the nasty game-winning three from 30 feet with Beverley right in his face, lifting the visiting team to the 125-122 win at the United Center.
How damaging was the loss?
It knocked the Bulls (29-36) to the No. 12 spot in the East – Indiana has the same record but owns the tie-breaker – two games behind Washington for that final play-in spot.
“It’s beyond frustrating that we lost again,’’ DeRozan said. “It’s overly frustrating to lose, especially when we say it’s a must-win. We’re making our own bed. We can’t complain about it. We’ve got to figure out these last games to dig us out of this hole and put ourselves in a position to make something out of it.’’
But all the Bulls have made out of this season has been a mess, especially when it comes to winning games late.
This is a group that is much better at beating themselves than the opposition.
Case in point, the final five minutes against the Pacers.
Zach LaVine, who looked the part of a max contract guy most of the afternoon, put the Bulls up by one with 5:12 left with the three. The back and forth continued, and it was LaVine again playing hero with 49.7 seconds left with a 19-foot pull-up jumper to again take the one-point lead back.
Buddy Hield answered with a clutch three on the other end, but LaVine wasn’t done, drawing the foul on a three-point attempt and having the game in his hands with 22.6 seconds left. He made the first two to tie the game, but the third free throw rimmed out, setting the stage for Haliburton to land the dagger.
“They just kept jumping heavy on my right hand,’’ Haliburton said of his game-winner. “I felt comfortable Pat was going to jump on my right hand, so I was able to get downhill left. But He came down and pressured me, so I felt like against Boston I had a shot with four seconds left but didn’t take it until the buzzer and took a bad shot, so I just took the first one I saw. It felt good.’’
Beverley wasn’t as impressed.
“He shot the ball, it went in,’’ Beverley said. “Good shot.’’
The Bulls did have one more opportunity, advancing the ball with the timeout and setting up a play that made LaVine the first option. Considering he had 42 on the day, he was the right option, but Indiana took it away, guarding him with T.J. McConnell and then double-teaming him when he popped out on the screen.
The ball ended up in Nikola Vucevic’s hands, but his turn-around prayer came up short.
And has been the case far too often this season, the Bulls only had themselves to blame, allowing the Pacers to grab 13 offensive rebounds, score 24 points off 15 Bulls turnovers, and outshoot them from long-range 44 to 22.
“I’m definitely surprised,’’ DeRozan said, when asked if he was surprised that the Bulls now find themselves in such a rough position at this point in the year. “We all got to find something in ourselves to make something happen. The opportunity is still there.’’
Technically? Yes.
Realistically at this point? Some holes are too deep to climb out of. They’re better off buried in dirt.