Even if the Nets were to win their Game 7 matchup with the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night, earning a chance to face the Miami Heat in the second round, they're not likely to change the perception that they're a talented but ultimately dispassionate team.

The critics justifiably see the Bulls as the more resilient team, both because they've overcome so much and because the Nets seem to be overwhelmed by so little.

Brook Lopez (right) and the Nets must match the fire of Joakim Noah and the Bulls. Associated Press

The Nets' lackadaisical play during Thursday's 95-92 win in Game 6 caused TNT announcer and Brooklyn native Marv Albert to question their "sense of urgency." NBA legend Charles Barkley chipped in at halftime by saying the Nets lacked "passion."

Meanwhile, during timeouts, a handful of injured Bulls players could be seen alongside their uniformed teammates who were vomiting into trash cans.

Luol Deng and Nate Robinson's battle with the flu, Joakim Noah's plantar fasciitis, Kirk Hinrich's calf: These are the things Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is asked about before insisting his team has "enough" to win.

Given the Bulls' many issues, the Nets ought to have enough to win. Backup center Andray Blatche even told reporters before Game 6 that the Nets had "no doubt" they're the better team in this series.

The problem is, the Nets haven't always looked like the better team, even in their victories.

By most accounts, the Nets didn't actually win on Thursday night. They just didn't lose. Instead of putting the short-handed Bulls away in the fourth quarter—as they had done in Game 5, but failed to do in Game 4—the Nets let them hang around by missing free throws and easy scoring opportunities, the worst of which came when Gerald Wallace failed to hit rim or backboard on a lightly contested layup.

"We're getting those kind of shots," Carlesimo said in a media conference call on Friday. "I feel good about it. And we're getting to the free throw line; I feel good about that.

"But I would have liked the way the game had unfolded in the fourth quarter a lot more had we done things that we normally do."

The issue, as Carlesimo sees it, has more to do with legs than heart. "I'm really happy with our guys' competitiveness," he said. "What concerned me more [Thursday] night, and that's why I talked about fatigue possibly being an issue, we missed free throws. We missed big free throws."

Blatche hit a pair from the line that ultimately sealed the win, but not until after the Nets had missed five costly free throws in the final quarter.

The problem could stem from the Nets' injury issues, which aren't as numerous as those of the Bulls, but are starting to mount.

Joe Johnson continues to battle plantar fasciitis, Deron Williams has a litany of issues and Blatche has been playing with a sore calf.

Carlesimo didn't think anyone would sit for the Nets on Saturday, but admitted he'll have to expand his rotation in order to prevent another sloppy fourth quarter.

"We have to watch minutes," he said. "Maybe some of the missed free throws, maybe some of the second-half, fourth-quarter fatigue is becoming a factor…The bench has been playing well. Maybe we need to ask the bench to do a little bit more."

Carlesimo was asked if Saturday would be a defining game for the Nets, but he didn't really know. After all, even if the Nets pull through against a depleted Bulls team they frankly should beat, a Nets win would put them in a second-round series with the heavily favored Heat.

What would that mean for the Nets in the face of so much criticism?

"It would mean we got to pack Sunday morning," Carlesimo said, "and do a quick turnaround for a really good opponent."

Write to Alex Raskin at alex.raskin@wsj.com


Game 7 (Tied 3-3)

Sat., 8 p.m., TNT