NBA Handicapping Predictions – Bulls vs Heat
The Chicago Bulls overtime win last Thursday over the Miami Heat gave them a bit of cushion at the top of the Eastern Conference.
The Chicago Bulls overtime win last Thursday over the Miami Heat gave them a bit of cushion at the top of the Eastern Conference.
These are the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. There is a good likelihood that they’ll meet up in the playoffs with a lot at stake. Derrick Rose re-injured his ankle Sunday and missed the Bulls last game.
For the second time in three days the New York Knicks will attempt to hand the Chicago Bulls another loss after Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks to an impressive 100-99 overtime victory over the Bulls on Sunday.
Derrick Rose participated in his first full contact practice in weeks Wednesday night, but he is still listed as questionable for this contest. Boston has been playing much better basketball of late.
The Houston Rockets are fighting for their playoff lives and are in tough spot on Monday night. It will the their third game in 4 nights and they will be visiting the team with the best record in the league.
The Detroit Pistons have won two in a row so are entering Chicago to face the Bulls with a little momentum.
The Bulls will be without Derrick Rose for the 7th straight game, but even without the reigning MVP in the lineup Chicago has won 4 straight.
The Magic are coming off a tough loss to the Miami Heat where they only scored 81 points and tonight face a Bulls’ team that has the league’s 2nd ranked defense.
Both 12th seed South Florida and Ohio have already pulled off some upsets in the Big Dance and USF and their stellar defense has held their 2 opponents in the Big Dance to only 54 and 44 points respectively.
South Florida was sitting on the Big Dance bubble, but they made it in and beat California in the play-in game to make the field of 64.
TNT will have Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic going against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls in their opening game this Thursday night.
It was another amazing performance by Derrick Rose that led the Bulls to yet another big road win last night in Philadelphia.
Derrick Rose is back in the lineup and the Bulls are playing some terrific basketball right now. Chicago has the best record in the Eastern Conference at 30-8.
The Spurs (24-10) are a NBA best 13-1 at home this season and even though they have been dealing some injuries they simply keep winning.
They may not have the better overall record but the South Florida Bulls are ahead of Louisville in the Big East standings this season. They are finally standing up for themselves in the conference and this game has a lot at stake, especially as their seems to be something brewing basketball wise in the state of Florida.
Derrick Rose hasn’t played for a little over a week, and he is expected to miss this game as well.
8:00 PM EST on TNT
NBA Gambling Odds from BetOnline
NBA Betting Favorite: Off
Over/Under: Off
Still, the Celtics will have a difficult game against the Bulls in Chicago. Kevin Garnett missed last night’s game for the Celtics, and he is questionable for this one. These teams have split their last six meetings with each other. Boston beat the Bulls 95-91 on Sunday, so Chicago will be looking for revenge in this one.
Boston has benefited nicely from the return of point guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo is arguably the team’s best player at this point, and he is the facilitator for the offense. Rondo averages 9.8 assists per game. Paul Pierce leads the Celtics in scoring at 17.8 per contest. Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnett all average about 14 points per game. Brandon Bass is out until the end of the month, and that is a significant loss for the Celtics in the paint. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Boston has been winning with defense of late. Last night’s loss to Detroit was unexplainable, and Boston will have to play much better if they expect to win this one on the road.
The Bulls miss Derrick Rose in a big way, but this is still a decent team without Rose. Luol Deng put up 23 points Tuesday against Sacramento, and he seems to be fully healthy once again.
Chicago has no shortage of quality big men with Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, and Omer Asik. Kyle Korver and C.J. Watson are both shooting it very well from deep this year for the Bulls, but it is much more difficult for them to get open looks without Rose in the lineup.
The Bulls are one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and they will need to control the glass to win this game.
The Bulls are 10-1 at home, and the Celtics are notoriously bad on the back end of a back-to-back. I think Chicago will dominate in the paint and win this one.
Prediction: Chicago 91 Boston 87