Eastern Conference. A good read, IMO. Bulls sneak in to the 8th seed with about a .500 record. Mostly because teams 9-15 are really hurting. http://www.blogabull.com/2012/10/30...ictions-Bulls-playoffs-heat-celtics?ref=yahoo 8. Chicago Bulls - We made it! Not huge news to anyone reading over the summer, but I have a bad feeling about this year. The loss of Rose just gives them so little room for error. There were many close games that Rose took over and won. There were games with bad starts that the bench turned into blowouts. Both traits of a once-dominant team are gone, and that's even before thinking about what happens if a key contributor goes down to injury. With the hard-cap the Bulls are uniquely inflexible and unable to cope with injuries. I think Rose's recovery will go fine, but despite Thibodeau's best efforts it won't be a full-bore return. Without Rose they'll be deep under .500, finishing 40-42. Luckily (?) for them, I tried my best but couldn't find a team any more likely to grab this last playoff spot. If you go with the theory that usually one team can rise up and make a surprise appearance, I'd put the Bulls as the team exiting.
The Bulls are pretty consistently coming up 8th seed in all the predictions I've seen so far. Except Sam Smith, who have them at 4th seed. The big caveat is that if Rose comes back soon enough, it could add a bit to the win column.
