April 09--The Bulls try to stave off elimination from the playoff race Saturday against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
Taj Gibson, who has a fractured rib, and E'Twaun Moore, with a sore left hamstring, are out. And coach Fred Hoiberg said it's likely they'll miss the rest of the regular season.
Hoiberg said he used a clip from the movie "Dumb and Dumber" at the morning shootaround, the scene where Jim Carrey's character says "so you're saying there's still a chance?" The Bulls need to win their three remaining games and the Pacers must lose their final three for a seven-year postseason run to continue.
"There have been times where we've dropped games, lost games that we should never have lost, especially at home against certain teams," Pau Gasol said. "Those are the times that guys don't realize how big of a price you can pay at the end of the year and how much of a different position you're going to be in because of those games in November, December, January that, 'Ah, there's still 40 games to play, there's still 50 games to play.' No, those games are just as meaningful as the ones we've been playing for the last week or two where our life has been on the line. That's just a lack of sense of urgency, a lack of awareness, a lack of maturity that we have dealt with."
Speaking at the Cavaliers shootaround, James admitted it's odd to see the Bulls on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
"Obviously, it's been such a rival for me in my recent years," James said. "Obviously, a lot of playoff series versus these guys, so in that sense it is (odd)."
