The season hangs in the balance for the Bulls.

The Chicago Bulls may not have control over what the front office decides at the trade deadline on February 8, but they do have control over their play. And for All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan, that means playing with a sense of urgency with six more games left until the All-Star break.

The Bulls are in a precarious position, sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, four games behind the Indiana Pacers, who hold the sixth spot and the last outright ticket to the NBA Playoffs. Injuries to key players have beset the Bulls—notably Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams, who are out indefinitely—and have lost three of their last five games. DeRozan knows that every game matters as the Bulls continue their push for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

A critical time
The Bulls bounced back with a superb 117-110 win over the Charlotte Hornets, a night after suffering a horrendous 118-107 defeat to a Toronto Raptors squad missing several of its best players. Deebo, who is playing in his 15th season in the NBA, knows this is a critical time of the season when front offices decide to go all-in or shift directions.

“It’s a critical time,” DeRozan said.

“A critical point in the season. We need every game, especially wanting to close this thing out as strong as possible going into the break.”

Try to handle their business
The loss to the Raptors stung for more reasons than just the defeat. The Bulls had the Raptors on the ropes and, at one point, held a 16-point lead. Toronto was also missing key players like Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl.

But even with these absences, the Bulls still couldn’t close out the game. Veteran center Nikola Vucevic added that they must handle their business to move up in the standings and stave off the teams trailing them.