With the Chicago Bulls eliminated from postseason contention, little is at stake in their 105-91 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. ‘It is disappointing we didn’t achieve our goal,’ Nikola Vučević says.

What might sting most is that playoff spots were up for grabs in the Eastern Conference this season. The Atlanta Hawks fired their coach at the beginning of March and entered Saturday as the conference’s No. 4 seed. Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has resurrected the New York Knicks, along with some key contributions from Derrick Rose and even Taj Gibson, to secure a top-six seed in the conference. At the very least, a berth in the play-in tournament, for the Nos. 7-10 seeds in each conference, was not a very high bar to clear.