By Chris Herring Chicago is at the top of the East but has struggled to hang on. Plus, thoughts on Phoenix and why New York needs to make a deal at the trade deadline. View the original article to see embedded media. We’re nearly through the first week in February, and Chicago—one of my preseason picks to surprise the rest of the NBA—is tied for first in the East. But it remains to be seen how much longer the Bulls can hang in that pole position, and Thursday night illustrated why. Many of Chicago’s biggest challenges were laid bare during the club’s overtime loss in Toronto, one in which the …