Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls
Time: 7 PM CT (NBA TV)
Spread: MIA -3.5
Total: 201
Betting odds c/o Bookmaker
The Chicago Bulls are just a game over .500 at 32-31 and are trying to get something resembling a safe place in the standings, currently seeded No. 8 in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls will host the 37-27 Miami Heat in a game to air on NBA TV at 7 Central. NBA oddsmakers favor the Heat by 3.5 points.
Click HERE to see live NBA odds from major bookmakers!
Chicago fell to the San Antonio Spurs last night 109-101. Despite losing, Chicago placed three scorers at 20 points for the game or more. Derrick Rose continued the tear he has been on since the All-Star break, scoring 21 points on 9 of 21 shooting.
The Bulls are still without 2-guard Jimmy Butler (left knee), and Rose has taken the initiative in supplanting his production. Pau Gasol had 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting and E’Twuan Moore scored 20 on red hot 8 of 12 shooting (including 4 of 5 from three-point range). Overall, though, the Spurs just had too much, getting big nights from Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge.
Rose’s production over his past seven games has been worlds better than his season averages. He has posted 20.4 points and 6.1 assists pe game while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. Against the Heat this year, Rose is averaging just 10.5 points per game in the pair of meetings, while seeing just 18.5 minutes per contest.
Rose has also shot the ball a good bit better in Bulls’ wins (43.1 percent), though his season averages still linger on the low side comparative to his recent play. Rose has averaged 18.6 points and 6.2 assists in the Bulls last five games, but Chicago has won just two of those.
The Bulls really need Butler, though, who is listed as out for tonight’s game, too. What’s more is that Rose is listed as questionable with a left adductor sprain. If the Bulls are without both of their top two scorers, this game should easily to to the Miami Heat. It is tough to say whether the three-point spread reflects Rose’s status or not, but it stands to reason that without Rose the Heat manage to cover the spread definitively.
Miami had a five game win streak snapped last night by the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite the ‘L’ the Heat got 20 points and 11 rebounds from forward Luol Deng and four of the Heat’s five starters scored in double figures. Joe Johnson seems to be adapting to a reduced role with the Heat just fine,. He hit 5 of 9 from the field for 11 points in 34 minutes.
The Heat shot 52.5 percent from the field, but Miami’s typically tough defense was powerless to stop Milwaukee. The Bucks shot 52.5 percent from the floor in their own right while getting 57 points from its starting frontcourt.
Johnson has been a valuable addition to the Heat. He has started all six games since signing with Miami and is averaging 13.5 points, three rebounds and two assists per game. Combining a veteran of Johnson’s skill with Goran Dragic, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade should be a recipe for the Heat advancing at least out of the first round in the postseason.
The Heat are 5-1 since Johnson joined the fold and the team is in first place in the Southeast Division.
Miami will have some issues in the offseason with prized center Hassan Whiteside due to hit free agency. He made just $1 million this season but has a commanding lead on the shot blocking title this year, averaging 3.93 blocks per game in addition to averaging a double-double. Teams will go hard after Whiteside, but the Heat will do its part to try to retain the talented defensive cog.
Miami’s addition of Johnson gives it a lot of depth at the wing positions. Gerald Green and Justise Winslow both bring radically different skill sets to the table, but the Heat have a strong identity as a defensive team and Johnson should add some of the missing scoring punch necessary for Erik Spoelstra’s club to have a legitimate chance of taking the East.
