Not much was expected from the Chicago Bulls this season.

Losing Derrick Rose, the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player, was thought to be the biggest blow to a team that would face many this season. There would be no talks of championship contention for Chicago this season, at least that was the expectation entering the season. Perhaps an eighth seed or a trip to the lottery.

The Bulls, however, didn't allow the loss of their best player to derail their season. Guys stepped up and the team, surprisingly, comfortably made the playoffs, their fifth consecutive trip.

Their stellar play suffered toward the end of the season as injuries caught up to the surprising team. Joakim Noah missed 12 of the Bulls' final 15 games dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, while other key players missed time for the team down the stretch.

The Bulls are still a confident team, and much healthier than they have been in months entering their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets. But they know that they'll have their work cut out for them and not much time to work out the wrinkles.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Tom Thibodeau said. "We're going to have to be at our best in a very short amount of time. I know we're a well rested team but the question I have is whether we're a sharp team. We have guys that haven't played a lot of minutes, but they're going to be called upon to be at their best. The moment of truth will be here shortly."

Noah, their most important player, is still hurting, but the rest of the players are feeling good. That has built confidence entering the playoffs. The feeling is heath is their biggest struggle. If they can play injury-free basketball, they feel they can make a deep playoff run.

"I just love us healthy," Carlos Boozer said. "We're dangerous team when we're healthy and have our whole squad out there. We've had guys out for so long and we're just getting guys back. We know how much better we can play. We've had moments when we've had our whole team and played amazing this season. We've also had games where we already defeated and it was a grind. So we're happy to get guys back and hopefully we can keep getting healthy."

The Bulls finished the season 5-5 over their final 10 games. While the record is disappointing, they know they're much better than they've played. Leaving the regular season behind, the Bulls are looking forward to getting the playoffs started and reminding everyone what they're capable of when healthy and focused.

"We're a confident team," Kirk Hinrich said."We know we haven't played our best lately, but we realize when we're right we can be a very formidable opponent."