NBA

A mere 20 days ago, the New York Knicks were a half game away from the eighth spot in the playoff race in the East. Since that time, they lost nine of 11 and fell to seven games behind the eighth spot to finish fourth from the basement in the East.

After the Bulls put the cherry on top of their up-and-down season with a disappointing, yet not surprising 106-97 loss to the Nets in New Jersey Wednesday night, Scott Skiles was all smiles.

With the Cavs hot on their heels for the second seed in the East, it seemed like the perfect weekend for the Bulls to drop two in a row against sub-par teams and begin their annual downward spiral into post-season oblivion.

The concept was simple: If the Bulls put up 100 points and win against the Knicks Tuesday night, fans at the United Center received free Big Macs--pure marketing genius for a city that ranks in the top five fattest cities in the United States.

Against all their own efforts, the Bulls found themselves in unfamiliar territory after splitting a weekend set against the Nets and Raptors. With a not-so-solid hold on the second seed, the Bulls must now fight off the temptation to suck for the rest of the season and take a violent tumble in the standings.

It would have been just another jawing session between two oversized egos. It would have fizzled out and everyone would have been just fine.

Going into Saturday afternoon's game against the Cavs, expectations for the Bulls were at an all-time high for the post-Jordan era.