Chicago Bulls squander golden opportunity against Wizards

The Chicago Bulls keep finding ways to disappoint fans with a win over Washington Wizards.

The Chicago Bulls are finding ways to disappoint their fans on a nightly basis, and last night’s game against the Washington Wizards was no exception. It was the second time Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis squared off against their former team, having won the first meeting just three days after the trade that sent them to Washington in exchange for Otto Porter Jr.

Porter missed last night’s game as he is dealing with an injured shoulder, as did Zach LaVine, so the Bulls entered the affair short-handed. They also found themselves only a half-game out in the loss column (the Bulls have played one more game) of the third-worst record in the league, in what has become a race for the No. 1 overall pick and the opportunity to draft Duke University standout Zion Williamson.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, who they are chasing, found a way to beat the Milwaukee Bucks. How they managed that is nothing short of a miracle. All the short-handed Bulls had to was to lose to the Wizards and they would have been tied with the Cavs. But noooooo. They had to go find a way to win 126-120 — in overtime no less.

Kris Dunn went for a career-high 26 points to go along with Lauri Markkanen‘s 32. They also got substantial contributions from Cristiano Felicio (15 points) and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (18 points) because, well, of course, they did.

It’s just like the Bulls to get a combined 33 points from two players who, for the entire season are averaging a combined seven points, on a night that they had to lose. Leave it to the Bulls to spoil an opportunity to increase their odds of landing a potentially franchise-altering player like Williamson.

Instead, they earned another meaningless win in a meaningless season which could very well lead to even more meaningless seasons. Look, granted we are talking about a mere 1.5 percent increase in their chances to land the No. 1 overall pick, but sliding into the third spot would give them just as good a chance to land that pick as the worst two teams in the league. Finishing fourth is the equivalent of taking a three-point shot with your toe on the line to lose by a point.

The Bulls have been terrible all year long — finishing just outside the top three worst teams in the league will only make it all for naught. But then again, none of this should come as a surprise for fans.