The final spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs is up for grabs and that will be decided by the end of Friday night. It will be the Chicago Bulls visiting the Miami Heat and the winner will earn the right to face the Boston Celtics.
Chicago comes into this game with a ton of momentum after blowing out the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night with a 131-116 win. The Bulls have now won three of their last four games, but this team was just 39-43 during the regular season.
Miami is looking to bounce back after a tough loss as they suffered a 105-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. The Heat finished the regular season with a record of 46-36, but they were a very inconsistent team.
The Heat are slim 1.5-point betting favorites in this game on Friday night, and the over/under line is set at 208.5 total points.
Bulls Rolling on Offense
The Chicago Bulls have been playing without two starters for much of the season, but other players have started to step up. Coby White poured in 42 points in the win over the Atlanta Hawks, and the Bulls scored 131 as a team.
Chicago is still scoring just 112 points per game, but this team now has a ton of confidence on offense ahead of this matchup. The Bulls will try to push the tempo in this game in an attempt to find easy scores.
This team still needs to become a better defensive team, and they struggled to stop the Hawks. It will take a complete effort from the Bulls to advance to the next round.
Heat Want to Defend
The Miami Heat have had recent playoff success by being a great defensive team, and that will be their strategy in this game. Miami is scoring just 110 points per game this season, and they are going to slow down the tempo.
This team did just play well on defense against the Philadelphia 76ers, but the lack of scoring proved to be a big issue. Things are going to be even harder in this game as the Heat will be without Jimmy Butler on Friday night.
Butler is leading the team with over 20 points per game this season, and his absence is going to force another player to step up. Miami does have the ability to shoot the ball well, but they haven’t always been consistent on offense.
Bulls Beat the Heat
This is going to be a great game on Friday night and both teams are going to be pushing hard for a spot in the playoffs. Miami missed out on a great opportunity to win on Wednesday night, and that’s going to come back and bite them in this matchup.
Miami has been a great defensive team all season long, but it’s hard to trust that they will find enough offense to win this game.
Bet the Chicago Bulls moneyline as they go to Miami and upset the Heat to advance to the Eastern Conference Playoffs to face the Boston Celtics.
