A Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls matchup brings back memories of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals and just seeing these two uniforms makes it feel like a big game to me. Instead it’s 2023, I’m not 10-years-old anymore and this is more like a Play-In Tournament preview.
At 38-33, the Heat are in seventh place in the East and the Bulls are 10th with a 32-37 record. The Bulls are coming off an overtime win against Minnesota at home yesterday and now they have to do it against Miami, who’s won two straight. Let’s get into the odds for this Eastern Conference matchup in Chicago.
Heat vs. Bulls odds, spread and total
Heat vs. Bulls prediction and pick
The Bulls have a dynamic duo on the wing, everybody knows that, but they reminded people who good they can be Friday against Minnesota. DeMar DeRozan had 49 points and Zach LaVine dropped 39. They even got 21 points from Nikola Vucevic, but nobody else scored in double-digits. That’s more firepower than Miami has on offense.
The Heat rely a lot more on one guy, Jimmy Butler, to do the scoring. At least when Jimmy wants to. He’s one of the best players in the NBA when we get to big games and the postseason and we’re getting to that point now. Not only is it a big game because of the standings, but it’s bigger for Jimmy Butler against his former team. We know that he has a spiteful side and that shows. For his career, he averages 24.5 points a game against Chicago, the team that drafted him and later traded him, the most against any team in the NBA.
The Heat are 30th in points per game, but the over is 4-0 in their last four games. I think we could get a head-to-head showdown on the wing between Butler and DeRozan, so I’ll take the over with a low total in this one.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change