The first round of the NBA Playoffs get underway on Saturday as the Phialdelphia 76ers travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 pm start time and it will be televised live on TNT. Currently the odds have Chicago favored by 9 points with the total sitting at 175.5 points for the contest.
Free Analysis: The Sixers plummeted down to earth after a hot start. They opened the truncated campaign with a sizzling 20-9 mark and led the Atlantic Division for quite some time. However, an 11-21 mark the next 32 games dropped the Sixers all the way down the East standings and had many wondering if this team would punch a ticket to the postseason. A 4-1 season-ending road trip got Philadelphia in but it remains a team in disarray, one that may have already tuned out it's old school coach, Doug Collins.
It's rare that a team's leading scorer begins every game riding the pine, but that's just what Lou Williams does for the 76ers. He turned in a team-best 14.9 points per game while backing up both guard spots. If not for James Harden of the Thunder, Williams would be a favorite for the Sixth Man of the Year award. He exemplified the 76ers' balance and team approach that led to the league's third-best defense and held opponents to a scant 89.4 points per game. The 76ers also excelled at protecting the basketball, recording the league's fewest turnovers and the best assist-to-turnover ratio. The three-point shot is a weapon that can lead to the upset, but it’s not a weapon the Sixers have. They were 24th in the NBA in three-pointers made, and none of their top shooters (Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala and Jodie Meeks) shoot it well enough to make contested, high-pressure threes with any consistency. A year ago, the Sixers averaged just 86.6 PPG on 41.4% FG in their five-game first-round series loss to Miami. The Bulls, meanwhile, dominated the East again in Tom Thibodeau's second year at the helm. The defensive-minded Thibodeau set the record for most wins by a first year coach in Chicago with 62 before following that up with an NBA-best 50-16 mark this season. The Bulls captured bragging rights in the East for the second straight campaign, the first time the franchise has shown such dominance since 1997-98 season, when a Michael Jordan-led group won their third straight and sixth NBA title in eight years. The Bulls held opponents to the lowest scoring output in the NBA, limiting their adversaries to just 88.4 points per game. They also topped the league in total and offensive rebounds. The Bulls adjusted to life without Rose late in the season, but he played in two of their final three games. He also averaged 26.5 PPG on 50.0% FG and 7.0 APG in two games against the Sixers this year. Chicago was upset in Philly back on Feb. 1, but the Bulls were without their best perimeter defender, Luol Deng, in that game. It’s a big reason why Iguodala went for 19 points on 8-for-13 FG that night. With Deng in the lineup, the Sixers averaged just 85.5 PPG and 40.3% FG in their next two games against Chicago, both Bulls wins. All signs point to a playoff run for the Bulls. If the seeds hold true, they will meet theHeat in the Eastern Conference championship for the second year in a row.
Free Pick: I'm going to look to the Under in this one. Both of these teams are very defensive minded team and they don't look to run that much either. The Bulls come in having allowed just 87.8 ppg on 41.8% shooting at home this year, plus down the stretch they have been even tougher, allowing just 79.2 ppg on 37.2% shooting in their last 5 games. Now that's playing some defense. The Sixers have played some higher scoring games down nthe stretch, but that is not their game. They do come in having allowed 89.4 ppg overall and 93 ppg on the road and they know that their only chance in this series is to just grind out the game and win it with their defense. Not sure they can win it, but they should be able to slow it down. Too much defense in this game to think that it can reach 176. This one might not make the 170's.
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Betting Strategies: Handicapping NBA Playoffs
Host Marco D'Angelo and Pregame Pro Vegas Runner discuss their strategies about betting the NBA Playoffs and being successful.