Chicago Bulls Will Need To Get Jurassic To Win Eighth Seed

Let's get realistic.

The Chicago Bulls are not so much winning the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as the Toronto Raptors are giving it to them.

Then again, the Bulls do deserve some payback for handing over their playoff seed this month.

The Raptors are losers of three straight and are 4-10 in the month of March, while the Bulls have won their last two games and are also 4-10 in the month of March.

The Bulls are currently a half game back of the Raptors for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Oh, what a month can do for a team.

A month ago the Bulls and Raptors were sitting pretty in the Eastern Conference. Surges by the Miami Heat (11-3 in March), Milwaukee Bucks (16-4 in last 20), and Charlotte Bobcats (10-3 in last 13) to go along with collapses by both the Bulls (lost 10 in a row at one point) and Raptors (lost nine of 10 at one point) have both teams fighting for the final position in the NBA's second season.

The Bulls are currently three-and-a-half games back of the Bobcats, so with nine games remaining on the schedule, it would seem the seventh spot, although doable, is a bit out of reach and the Bulls' only shot at a playoff birth would come down to the eighth spot and the Raptors.

The Bulls' remaining schedule consists of home games against the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Bobcats, and Bucks. The Bulls will be on the road against the Washington Wizards, New Jersey Nets, Raptors, and Bobcats.

Six out of the remaining nine games are against teams above .500. One factor, which could be in the Bulls' favor, is the team's more difficult opponents will come to the United Center.

The Raptors' remaining schedule features home games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Celtics, and Bulls. The Raptors will be on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, Cavaliers, and Bobcats.

The Raptors face just four teams above .500 in the team's final 10 games.

The schedule is definitely in the Raptors' favor with any intelligent betting man guaranteeing five wins as opposed to just two for the Bulls.

With Luol Deng expected to miss a "couple more weeks" with no timetable for a return and Joakim Noah (17 minutes against the Pistons last night) receiving limited minutes since returning, the betting man would probably hand the last playoff spot to the Raptors as well.

And for the icing on the cake, the Bulls are 0-2 this season against the Raptors, losing by a combined 42 points.

The Bulls, however, have their fate in their own hands, playing two games against the Bobcats and one game against the Raptors.

Whether the starting five for the Bulls will feature Deng and Noah or James Johnson and Brad Miller at any point in the remaining nine games is a whole other ball game and a huge reason that a betting man wouldn't put his money on or against the Bulls making the playoffs.