As the losses mounted, the predictions began. Some figured the then 0-9 Chicago Bulls might start the season with 20 consecutive defeats, given their schedule at the time. Others believed the Bulls would at least threaten, if not break, the NBA record of 73 losses set by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers.

The losing streak ended in the team’s next game, against the Utah Jazz, the last of a six-game West Coast road trip. Shortly after that, the Bulls were making their own prediction.

“We went on a three- or four-game winning streak. I remember talking with Eddy (Curry) at the back of the bus, and Kirk (Hinrich) overheard us talking, and he came back there and we were just saying that we were going to make the playoffs,” fourth-year forward Tyson Chandler said recently. “We were that confident.”

After climbing back from their horrendous start, after overcoming a season-ending injury to rookie forward Luol Deng and an irregular heartbeat that sidelined Curry in the past month, the Bulls made good on their boast. With a 47-35 record, Chicago secured the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls began their first postseason since 1998, when Michael Jordan led the team to the last of the franchise’s six world championships, a lot better than they began the regular season. Chicago is unbeaten, having taken a 1-0 lead over the Washington Wizards with Sunday’s 103-94 victory at the United Center.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is tonight in Chicago.

What the Bulls have done this season under defensive-minded, no-nonsense coach Scott Skiles is nothing short of remarkable, given how young a team they are.

The two offensive stars of the first playoff game were rookies Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni. Gordon, who led Connecticut to an NCAA championship in 2004, scored 30 points in his familiar role as the team’s sixth man. Nocioni, who helped Argentina to an Olympic gold medal last summer, had 25 points and 18 rebounds.

The team’s defensive stoppers were rookie point guard Chris Duhon and Hinrich, a second-year guard out of Kansas University. Duhon, the former Duke star who became a starter last month, and Hinrich harassed Gilbert Arenas into a 3-for-19 shooting night that produced nine points, more than 16 below the All-Star’s average.

What the Bulls have accomplished also is a surprise considering Skiles never has been known as the most patient coach, a hot-tempered perfectionist who quickly lost his first head-coaching job in Phoenix in 2002 after a little more than two seasons and then went 19-47 last season in his first year in Chicago.

“First when I coached in Phoenix, it was that I can’t coach today’s player, I’m only good enough to coach veteran guys,” Skiles said. “Now I get the question about whether only young guys can handle this kind of thing. I’ve got a team that works very, very hard. We practice hard, we prepare hard and they do it.”

Recalling the team’s 0-9 start, Skiles said: “One of the reasons we were 0-9 was that we took a very young team on a West Coast trip, and that’s very difficult. But we were fortunate to win the last game of that trip, and it kind of took the weight of the world off the guys’ shoulders.

“They had a great attitude and they were working very hard and they were even a little puzzled why they were 0-9. We weren’t playing poorly; we just weren’t able to win the games. Then we had a long homestand where we took care of business. Even though we’re young, there are quite a few guys in there that are used to winning.”

Duhon said the team’s youth was a positive in keeping things together during the early losing streak.

“I think it was good to have a lot of young guys, guys who were excited about being in the NBA and wanted to make a statement for themselves,” Duhon said.