If you’re the scoreboard-watching type, Tuesday was not a good day for the Bulls. The Indiana Pacers came back from a 19-point deficit against the Toronto Raptors to pick up a win at home to stay in the playoff chase, and the Bulls did themselves no favors. In their third and final matchup with the New York Knicks this season, Chicago got down early and was never able to claw all the way back, losing 100-91.

Following a four-game winning streak that appeared to have the Bulls in prime position to make a late run and solidify their position in the postseason, the Bulls squandered virtually all of that goodwill in one night against an awful Knicks team decimated by injuries and starting two undrafted players. After Sunday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, it looked as though the Bulls might finally be over their tendency to blow winnable games against bad teams. Tuesday only reinforced that you can never trust them on those sorts of things.

New York Knicks forward Maurice Ndour (2) steals the ball from Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo (9) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The Bulls cut the deficit to single digits late after trailing by as many as 25, but the game was lost when they shot 5-for-20 in the second quarter, not scoring until almost the halfway mark of the period. Every time they made a brief run, the Knicks had an answer. It’s not how a team should be playing when they’re fighting for their playoff lives. By virtue of tiebreakers with the Pacers and Miami Heat, the Bulls still control their own destiny to make the playoffs, but there is no more room for error. The Bulls have four more games in the regular season, all against lottery teams. As Tuesday night shows, that should be a terrifying prospect for everyone involved.

Here are some observations from an embarrassing loss that came at a time the Bulls could least afford it:

Outside of Nikola Mirotic (21 points), Jimmy Butler got no help from his supporting cast. The Bulls’ recent hot streak has been defined by big games from the likes of Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine, which went a long way to take pressure off of Butler to create everything himself. The reserves were nowhere to be found Tuesday. The little-used Anthony Morrow scored 15 points off the bench, but most of them came when the game was already very much decided. He was the only Bulls reserve to score in double figures.

Speaking of Morrow, head coach Fred Hoiberg tried some out-of-the-box rotations in an effort to find a spark. The perplexing second-quarter lineup of Michael Carter-Williams, Valentine, Paul Zipser, Portis and Joffrey Lauvergne got some run again, and they failed to score in their entire time on the floor.

Jerian Grant got some brief playing time. Cristiano Felicio did not. Felicio has been available to play, health-wise, since last Thursday’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Hoiberg has opted to play Lauvergne at backup center instead. In his search for a source of energy, it might make sense to go back to the second-year Brazilian at some point.

Going into Tuesday night’s game, the Bulls had made at least 10 3-pointers in seven straight games, a franchise record and a welcome change for what has been the worst outside shooting team in the league for most of the year. It turns out that turnaround wasn’t sustainable as they shot 6-of-27 from beyond the arc Tuesday, including 2-of-8 from Mirotic and 1-of-5 from Valentine.

In a play that defines the Bulls’ season as well as anything, Mirotic threw away an inbounds pass because he didn’t realize Rajon Rondo was tying his shoe.

Bulls turned it over on inbound because Rondo was tying his shoe pic.twitter.com/ZJPXGGmUsk — Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) April 5, 2017