If the best possible lottery odds would be stating in 4th, a game ahead of the Cavs, then the Bulls did nothing to hurt themselves last night. The Bulls have been in 4th for the last two months, they'll likely be 4th in a month, and there's no chance they fall out of the top 5. The only damage the Bulls do by playing well is making it less likely that a regime change will happen. Best possible odds are top 3. But also the value of being higher is you can’t drop as far. Right now Bulls can pick from 1-7, if they don’t pass the Cavs they get 1.5% higher odds of #1, 4% better odds of finishing top 4, and can’t fall farther than 7th. Not a huge gain but I’d prefer to be in that position if possible.