OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 Of all the hands to dish the blow, of all the places for it to occur, there\u2019s something poetic about former Chicago guard Alex Caruso and his defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder extinguishing the flames on a Bulls season long reduced to ash.<\/p>\n
With Friday night\u2019s 131-113 loss, the Bulls were officially eliminated from postseason contention. Released from their Play-in Pledge. Free from another fruitless 39-win season. After a trade deadline fire sale and a winless February, they\u2019ll go without a Play-In or playoff berth for the first time since 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a weird thing because obviously mathematically we\u2019re not eliminated, but we may as well be at this point,\u201d guard Josh Giddey told The Athletic Friday morning before Chicago officially was eliminated from the postseason. \u201cIt\u2019s tough because I think the hard part for, I\u2019d say, for the guys who are in contract situations, is that these 10 games can be easy for them to start to kind of get into themselves and worry about what\u2019s gonna happen with them at the end of the year. But I think the important thing is we continue to buy into each other and play for the people next to you, just play the right way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether we\u2019re making the playoffs or not, it\u2019s just important that we just finish this thing out the right way. We don\u2019t throw the towel in. We get to play in the NBA for a living. \u2029So not taking it for granted and just kind of blowing these last 10 games by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giddey began this season beside some semblance of a core. One that\u2019d plateaued in Play-In territory, but something distinguishable. They were eroded by injuries, tantalized by Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107\u2019s game winners and composed of an unreasonable number of guards.<\/p>\n
Months later, four players\u2019 seasons have been shut down, two this past week. The Bulls acquired more guards at February\u2019s trade deadline, all with varying timelines and priorities. Chicago\u2019s deadline activity didn\u2019t resemble anything suggesting cohesion, or even another go at the Play-In. It suggested that Arturas Karnisovas might be wiping his hands of his first team build.<\/p>\n
A rebuild born in February. Perhaps too late to dip below any of the eight teams that currently own worse records than them, most of which decidedly pivoted much earlier.<\/p>\n
On the final day of postseason contention for these Bulls, their longest tenured player, Patrick Williams, shot 1 for 8 in 18 minutes. Isaac Okoro and Collin Sexton, eight 3s between them, gave OKC a 36-minute scare. Leonard Miller hoisted 17 shots. Giddey finished 1 for 11 with five turnovers. Guerschon Yabusele, 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, started at center.<\/p>\n
Midway through one of OKC\u2019s signature suffocating runs, which stretched as wide as 35-8 across roughly eight minutes in the second half, Giddey watched Sexton attempt to post up Thunder guard Isaiah Joe.<\/p>\n
He used four dribbles with his back turned, missed Giddey on a backdoor cut and the Australian point guard jerked his head back in exasperation.<\/p>\n