In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Bulls GM John Paxson admitted that, with his team close to 70 games into the season and 10 games below .500, he didn't think the team had a chance at the playoffs.

"I'll be honest with you, when we were 29-39, I wasn't the most confident guy in the world," said Paxson. "In my mind, I was already talking about some things that, postseason, we were going to schedule. That's the way I have to work."

"My coaches have said this to me many times: You can never count this group out because they do play hard."

The Bulls can finish sixth or, at worst, seventh in the East with a win over the Raptors in Chicago today.