CHICAGO — The Hawks could end up back in the Windy City in two weeks. Or they could play again in Atlanta.
One thing that seems certain is that the Hawks and Bulls will meet one more time. The teams seem almost destined to meet in the Play-In tournament following the NBA’s regular season.
Just a half game separate the two teams in the Eastern Conference standings following the Hawks 113-101 win Monday night. The Bulls still have the tiebreaker after winning the first two meetings of this season’s series.
While the Hawks have maintained their hold in the 10th seed since Jan. 16, they have not clinched a postseason berth. They remain the only team in the top 10 that has not done so.
With seven regular-season games remaining, the Hawks sit 5.5 games ahead of the Nets, who have six games remaining in their schedule.
Neither the Bulls nor the Hawks likely will make up ground for the seventh or eighth seeds. The third through seventh seeds have more than one game between them, and the eighth seed sits 2.5 games behind the sixth.
Neither the Bulls nor Hawks have enough room to climb the standings.
Of course, winning every single remaining game would help their case.
But the Hawks have the 14th toughest remaining schedule, per Tankathon. They face the Pistons on Wednesday, but their next six games include trips to the Mavericks and Nuggets, hosting the Hornets, then the Heat, followed by trips to the Timberwolves and Pacers.
The Bulls, though, have the fourth easiest remaining schedule. Three of their remaining six games are against the Knicks all sandwiched between games against the Magic, Pistons and Wizards.
Nothing is final, but, for now, the only real question remaining for the Hawks and Bulls is whether the Play-In game will take place in Chicago or Atlanta.
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