Pushing to improve play-in status, Bulls welcome Wizards

Making a late-season surge in pursuit of a playoff spot, the Chicago Bulls face the last-place Washington Wizards in their regular-season home finale on Friday.

Chicago (37-43) has won four of its last five, with a 7-3 mark over the last 10, following Wednesday’s 119-111 victory over the Miami Heat. Josh Giddey’s 28-point, 16-rebound, 11-assist effort led the Bulls to a victory with significant implications on the Eastern Conference postseason race.

Chicago pulled a game ahead of the Heat for ninth place, which as it stood entering play Thursday, would give the Bulls home-court advantage in a play-in round rematch with Miami. Chicago is just one-half game behind Atlanta for eighth place in the East, with the Hawks visiting Brooklyn on Thursday.

Moving into eighth place for the play-in would give Chicago some insurance to play on in case it lost the opening game.

“We can’t look too far ahead,” Giddey told reporters following his seventh triple-double of the season. “We’ve got two games to go. I don’t know how far we can move up or down or what the situation looks like, but we’re trying not to concern ourselves too much with it, playing one game at a time, and we’ll see where we end up after 82 games.”

The Bulls conclude the regular season with Washington (17-63) and at Philadelphia, which snapped a 12-game losing streak on Wednesday against the Wizards.

The 122-103 decision in Washington marked the Wizards’ fourth consecutive loss and ensured the franchise its second straight season not reaching the 20-win mark. The 2023-24 Wizards finished an organization-worst 15-67.

The 2024-25 campaign has not been all bad for Washington. Rookies Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George have all moved into substantial roles, with each playing some of their best basketball to close the season.

Carrington has scored in double-figures in five consecutive games, including a career-high 32 points on April 3 vs. Orlando. He has also dished at least six assists in five of the last six outings.

George returned to the lineup this week from an ankle sprain and finished with 13 points against Philadelphia.

Sarr has scored in double figures over nine of the last 10 games, including a 20-point, 12-rebound, six-assist effort on Tuesday at Indiana. The center is making a late case for NBA Rookie of the Year honors.

“We’ll see what happens at the end. I’ve been constantly improving through the season, and I’m finishing out strong, trying to keep building that momentum,” Sarr said, according to the Washington Post.

The young Wizards’ contributors also include Justin Champagnie. His 60 games played in 2024-25 are more than his three previous NBA seasons combined (56), and he has capitalized with 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, one assist and one steal per game.

Chicago’s playoff push, meanwhile, is the combined effort of emerging young playmakers like Giddey and Coby White around steady veteran big man Nikola Vucevic. White’s 20.7 points lead the Bulls, while Vucevic contributes 18.7 points and 10.1 rebounds.

–Field Level Media