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NBA Playoff Betting – (3) Bulls at (2) Cavaliers (Game 1)

Zack Garrison

by Zack Garrison in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers (-5, 194 o/u)

Tonight, the Chicago Bulls (4-2, 2-1 away) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0, 2-0 home) start the most highly anticipated series of the second round, as the Central Division rivals square off in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland (7:00 PM Eastern).

After going up 3-0, the Bulls were tested more than expected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, eventually needing six games to oust the young, scrappy squad. The Bulls won’t be happy about dropping Games 4 and 5, but their utter domination in Game 6 (120-66) will have them them feeling confident heading into tonight’s contest.

While facing LeBron James can’t really be considered a lucky draw, the reality is that Chicago is catching a bit of a break. Cleveland lost power forward Kevin Love (shoulder) for the season in round one and won’t have J.R. Smith (suspension for elbowing) in the first two games of the series.

But the Bulls know that – Love and Smith’s absences notwithstanding – stopping LeBron is never an easy feat.

“The only thing you can do with him is try to make him work for his points,” said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. “You can’t really give him a steady diet of anything. You have to mix it up on him. The thing that makes him who he is he can beat you a lot of different ways. It’s not only his scoring. It’s his passing. He’s seen every type of defense there is.”

James, meanwhile, is getting mentally prepared to face the 2014 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Joakim Noah.

“[Noah is a] guy that you hate to compete against but if he’s your teammate you love him,” said James. “He’s one of their glue guys. He plays well; they play well. His energy, his effort, he’s a guy that you as a fan love to watch him, as a competitor you hate him.”

Chicago is 7-3 SU in its last ten in Cleveland, and the Cavs are 4-12 ATS in their last 16 against Chicago. The Cavs have posted three straight unders and, with Love and Smith out tonight, will likely try to turn the game into a plodding, defensive battle. Consider the under (194) again.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (Flickr) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)

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