The 8th seeded Chicago Bulls are stunning the NBA world right now by taking a 2-0 series lead over the 1st seeded Boston Celtics. With the next two games in Chicago, the Bulls have an excellent chance at sweeping the Celtics and pulling off one of the most monumental playoff upsets in NBA history. I don't care if the Celtics are regarded as one of the weakest top seeds ever. An 8 seed sweeping a 1 seed would be the biggest playoff upset in NBA history. The Bulls are two games away from doing the unthinkable and there's no reason to think they are done making history.
When the NBA season began, I predicted that the Chicago Bulls would meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. At the time, I really thought they had the pieces. Jimmy Butler is one of the best shooting guards in the NBA, Dwyane Wade while aging still is capable of putting up 20 points per game, and they have some other quality pieces like Rajon Rondo, Nikola Mirotic, and Robin Lopez. Given how there was no clear #2 team in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, I figured the Chicago Bulls were as good of a pick as any to get the #2 seed and take on the #1 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Things didn't exactly go the way I predicted. The Bulls had to wait until the last day of the regular season to find out if they would even make the playoffs. I picked the Celtics to sweep them in my series preview and thought that I was a fool for picking the Bulls to reach the Eastern Conference Finals at the beginning of the season. The Bulls looked like a team that was just lucky to squeak into the playoffs while the Celtics looked like a team poised to make a deep playoff run.
During these past two games, the Bulls and Celtics have switched roles. The Bulls are looking like a team capable of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Celtics are looking like a team that could be swept. It's crazy how things can change so quickly after just two games.
To answer the question that titles this article "Can the Chicago Bulls reach the Eastern Conference Finals?" the answer is yes they can. They have the pieces and those pieces are finally coming together. While Jimmy Butler is averaging 26 points per game during this series, he's not the only one who has come to play. In addition to Wade, Lopez, and Rondo, the Bulls have gotten double-digit scoring productions from the likes of Bobby Portis and Paul Zipser. It has truly been a team effort to go up 2-0 in this series.
At this point, I like the Bulls' chances of winning this series and advancing to the second round, where they will likely face the Washington Wizards. As good as the Wizards are, they are no slam dunk to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. They are still a team that is learning and growing. Dwayne Wade's playoff experience could be the x-factor in a Bulls-Wizards series and be what pushes the Bulls into the Eastern Conference Finals.
I understand there is a lot of basketball to be played and the Bulls still have to take care of business in their series against the Celtics. But that notwithstanding, it can't be ignored that the Bulls suddenly have a very clear path to the Eastern Conference Finals. They're playing good basketball and are finally looking like the team that I thought they would be at the beginning of the season. It will be interesting to see if they can sustain this.
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