The Chicago Bulls played their final Group Play game of the NBA Cup on Friday night, losing to the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics. Led by Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls nearly handed the Celtics their fourth loss of the season.

Chicago started slow as Boston built a nine-point lead less than six minutes into action. The Bulls closed the gap, but the Celtics didn’t let off the gas, building an even bigger 13-point lead before Chicago’s deficit was cut to nine by the end of the first quarter.

The Bulls stormed back in the second quarter, cutting Boston’s lead to three behind a pair of Torrey Craig three-pointers. After a back-and-forth quarter full of excellent shotmaking, the teams entered the halftime break tied at 67. The third quarter was much the same, except for a Bulls lead for the first seven minutes. Boston caught up, eventually tying the game at 96.

The final frame was all Boston. The Bulls kept it close in the beginning, keeping up with the Celtics for five minutes of player before Boston turned it on. The Celtics converted on nine of their final 13 shot attempts, including five triples. Following the loss, Chicago is 8-13 on the season and 2-2 in NBA Cup Group Play games.

Chicago had a shot at advancing to the Knockout Rounds

Prior to Chicago’s game against Boston, several East Group C clinching scenarios existed. The Atlanta Hawks would clinch the group with a win and a Bulls loss. The Celtics needed to beat the Bulls while seeing Atlanta lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lastly, Chicago had to defeat the Celtics and hope for a Cleveland loss.

Half of Chicago’s clinching scenario occurred earlier in the day, seeing the Cavaliers losing 117-101 to the Hawks. With a Cleveland loss, the Bulls controlled their destiny, only needing to defeat the Celtics. The term “only needing to defeat” in an NBA context is never a guarantee, much less knocking off the reigning NBA Champions. Despite the tall task, Chicago nearly defeated Boston, clinching a spot in the NBA Cup’s Knockout Round.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, a 2-2 record isn’t good enough to clinch Group C, nor is it good enough to earn a wildcard spot in the Knockout Rounds. Chicago is officially eliminated from the Emirates NBA Cup, but what’s next for the Bulls?

Two games will be added to the Bulls’ schedule in lieu of the single elimination Knockout Round games. These games will be played between December 12 and 16, prior to the NBA Cup Championship, which will be held on December 17.

Who advances to the Knockout stage?

As it stands, Atlanta has clinched a spot in the Knockout Rounds. The Celtics, at 3-1, are a potential wildcard team. However, two teams from Group A and Group B are currently 3-0, muddying the waters. The Orlando Magic and New York Knicks are the 3-0 teams in Group A, while the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons are the culprits in Group B.

The Magic will face the Knicks, and the Pistons will host the Bucks on an exciting final day of NBA Cup action on December 3. Boston, completely out of control of its own destiny, will hope for a sizable Milwaukee victory and an outright defeat of the Knicks to advance to the next stage of the NBA Cup.

The Bulls 2024 NBA Cup should be deemed a success

As for the Bulls, a 2-2 record doesn’t quite qualify to advance to the Knockout Rounds, but it’s a massive improvement upon last season’s debacle. Chicago lost all four NBA Cup games a season ago while averaging a league-low 102.3 points across the four contests.

This season, Chicago led all teams in the NBA Cup games in points per game—averaging an impressive 129.5. The Bulls also led the league in field goal percentage and ranked second in three-point makes and accuracy. Following a negative-48-point differential a season ago, the Bulls ranked 13th in the NBA with a plus-6 point differential in Group Play.