Bulls’ Billy Donovan shares honest thoughts on potential play-in game vs. Hawks

The Chicago Bulls moved to 2-1 against the Atlanta Hawks on the season after losing to them at home on Monday night. The two teams will likely be playing each other again in the play-in tournament in a couple weeks, and they are in a battle for home-court advantage right now. Both the Bulls and the Hawks are 36-40 with six games to go, and the race for ninth place is going to come down to the wire.

With just six games remaining, it looks like a certainty that the Bulls and Hawks will meet in the play-in tournament. The Philadelphia 76ers are five games ahead of both teams right now, so it’s very unlikely that either of them catch up to Philly. Chicago and Atlanta are going to play for a fourth time.

“The one thing for us is we’re playing a little bit of a different team than we’ve played,” Billy Donovan said in regards to a potential matchup with Atlanta in the play-in tournament. “Obviously with Trae [Young] being out, that certainly changes the dynamics of the team. [Dejounte] Murray and [Bogdan] Bogdanovic have played exceptionally well in his absence. They [the Hawks] certainly do a terrific job offensive rebounding. They’re incredibly long on the perimeter and on the wing spots. [Jalen] Johnson’s been out and maybe he’s available tonight. Then defensively, because of their length and size and their physicality, they’ve done a really good job being active with their hands. So, I would say they’re probably playing a little bit differently, not in terms of stylistically but the personnel is a little bit different. Because Trae [Young] was so elite and dynamic with the ball in his hands, it probably opened up some things for some other guys in his absence. Maybe like what’s happened to us a little bit with the absence of Zach [LaVine], it probably opened up some things for Coby [White] and Ayo [Dosunmu] as well. The first two times we played them, the team is a little different now than when we played them previously.”

At this point, both teams know what’s coming, but they don’t know where the game will be played. Whichever team finishes in ninth place will host.

The Bulls want home-court, but it’s not the most important thing