NBA Playoff Betting – (3) Bulls at (6) Bucks (Game 6)

Chicago Bulls (-3.5, 187.5 o/u) at Milwaukee Bucks

With the momentum firmly on their side, the Milwaukee Bucks (2-3, 1-1 home) will look to tie their best-of-seven series with the Chicago Bulls (3-2, 1-1 away) at three games apiece tonight when they host Game 6 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center (7:00 PM Eastern).

After falling behind 3-0 in the series and being largely written off, the Bucks have responded with two straight wins to keep their up-and-down season alive. Milwaukee took Game 4 at home (92-90) in thrilling fashion on a buzzer-beating layup by Jerry Bayless. Then they traveled to the Windy City for Game 5 and upset the Bulls 94-88.

The Bucks got excellent guard play in the win. Michael Carter-Williams and Khris Middleton combined for 43 points on 18/31 shooting. The Bulls backcourt tandem of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler, on the other hand, had just 33 points and were a dreadful 10/41 from the floor.

Pau Gasol (25 points, ten rebounds, four assists) was the lone bright spot for Chicago in the loss.

“I don’t know if we were comfortable or confident or overlooking them,” said Gasol after Game 5 on Monday night. “I just think we didn’t play with enough sense of urgency and desire, which you have to do when you’re ready to close out a team when you have them in that position. We’re going to have to play the next game like it’s the last game, not think that if we lose this one, we still have a chance, that we can play at home in Game 7. That would be a terrible mistake.”

Suddenly riding a hot-streak, the Bucks are taking the exaggerated reports of their death personally.

“Everyone’s talking about the future, everyone’s talking about [the Bulls’] series against Cleveland … We’re still here though,” said Milwaukee forward Jared Dudley.

Despite playing well in back to back games and having home-court tonight, the Bucks are 3.5-point dogs at the moment. Part of the reason is that Carter-Williams is suffering from an ankle injury, though he is expected to suit up tonight. Chicago may respond with a win, but look for a fired-up Milwaukee squad to keep it close.

Pick: Bucks +3.5.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (originally posted to Flickr as 00055633) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo may appear cropped.)