Bulls at Pelicans
The Chicago Bulls were eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday
night and have nothing to play for when they visit the New Orleans
Pelicans on Monday. Chicago had made the playoffs in seven consecutive
seasons but will be spectators this time around after Indiana's win
ended its playoff hopes.
The Bulls are just a .500 team this season under Fred Hoiberg after firing highly successful Tom Thibodeau after a 50-win season. Chicago owned a 27-21 record after a win on Feb. 3 but lost nine of its next 12 games and never recovered. New Orleans is coming off a lackluster effort on Saturday in which it was routed 121-100 by the lowly Phoenix Suns while playing for the fourth time in five nights. "That's definitely a big part of it, but at the end of the day we don't want to make excuses," guard Toney Douglas told reporters. "We lost. We have to learn from it and get ready for Monday against Chicago."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Chicago, FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE BULLS (40-40): Saturday's 105-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers was pleasing to center Pau Gasol but also carried an exasperating component. "It shows character. It shows pride," Gasol told reporters. "But it's also very frustrating because if we showed this type of edge and competitiveness every single night, we wouldn't be talking about this." Shooting guard Jimmy Butler is doing his part of late by topping 20 points in five of the past six games.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (30-50): The depleted squad suffered its worst home loss of the season against the Suns and the franchise has lost 50 games for the third time in its 14-season history. "You kind of want to get in a rhythm with the starting five, the real players, the bench, and you have players coming in and out, but at the end of the day it's a part of the game," Douglas said. "Things happen and you have to adjust. I think we did a good job adjusting to it even though we were facing a lot of adversity this season." Douglas scored a season-best 23 points in the loss to Phoenix and has scored 19 or more points in four of the past six games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Bulls have won the past three meetings, including a 98-94 home victory on Dec. 12.
2. Chicago PF Taj Gibson (ribs) has missed six straight games and is unlikely to play in either of the final two regular-season contests.
3. New Orleans F James Ennis scored a career-high 18 points against the Suns and has reached double digits in six of seven games since joining the squad.