Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs continue on Sunday afternoon and we will see the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Chicago Bulls in game 4 of their best-of-seven series, which will be played at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Free Pick to follow. The game has a start time of 3:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ABC. Current Vegas betting odds have Cleveland listed as 1.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 194.5.
Analysis: The Cleveland Cavaliers had a split vs the Bulls in the two games at home and were feeling better heading to Chicago knowing that JR Smith would be back on the court and he did hit a late 3 to tie the game with 10 seconds left, but then Derrick Rose hit a 3 as time expired to put the Cavs in the 2-1 hole. Cleveland Has gone 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a ATS loss, but just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Conference Semifinals games. The Cavaliers have been a solid offensive team on the road this year, scoring 102.6 ppg on 44.6% shooting overall and 34.6% shooting from long range. Defensively on the road the Cavs have allowed 100.9 ppg on 46.8% shooting overall and 32.8% shooting from long range.
Heading into the Playoffs the Bulls were considered a dangerous team, especially when they are healthy like they are now. Derrick Rose is back and just had an MVP type game 3, in which he scored 30 points and hit the game winning 3 at the buzzer. The Bulls now have a 2-1 series lead and they are 30-15 at home for the year. The Bulls have gone 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600, but just 8-20-1 ATS in their last 29 Sunday games. Chicago has scored 101.3 ppg on 43.5% shooting overall and 34.3% from long range at home this year. Defensively they have been solid at home, allowing just 97.0 pg on 42.8% shooting overall and 33.7% shooting from long range.
Pick: I am going with Cleveland in this one. I feel this series will go 7 games and will look for the Zig -Zag to happen here. The Cavs really didn't play well in game 3, but still had a shot at winning the game in the end. It really just took a miracle 3 by Derrick Rose to beat them. After the Cavs lost game 1 they came back with a vengeance in game two and won rather easily. JR Smith now has his feet wet in the series and I expect him to have a better game, plus I look for Lebron to take over as well just like he did in game 2. The Cavs do not want to fall down 3 games to 1 and I see them coming up wth a big game to make sure tat that doesn't happen.
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NBA Free Pick: How To Bet Bulls vs Cavaliers
What Pro basketball bettors need to know about betting the series in the Chicago Bulls/ Cleveland Cavaliers series - a free pick from Pregame.com's Steve Fezzik with added insight from Teddy Covers.