The Chicago Bulls clinch a play-in spot with Orlando Magic loss
Bulls clinch a play-in spot with Magic loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bulls officially clinched a spot in the play-in tournament during their game against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. The Orlando Magic's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers sealed the Bulls' spot in the tournament.
The Bulls now own the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference outright. They sit one game behind the ninth-spot Atlanta Hawks and 1.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Toronto Raptors. The Raptors own the tiebreaker over the Bulls, so an even record would give better positioning to the Raptors.
A win over the Hawks on Tuesday would have also given the Bulls the play-in spot. As of this writing, the Bulls are currently losing to the Hawks at home. The Bulls have the Bucks, Mavericks and Pistons to play before the finish of the regular season.
In the NBA's recently founded play-in tournament, the No. 7 seed will play the No. 8 seed and the No. 9 seed will play the No. 10 seed. The winner of the 7/8 game will automatically advance to the NBA playoffs as the No. 7 seed. The loser of the 9/10 game will be eliminated and the winner will play the loser of the 7/8 game for the final No. 8 seed in the playoffs.
If the play-in tournament started today, the Bulls would face the Atlanta Hawks. They would play the winner of a Heat-Raptors contest if they win the first game.
