NBA Preview: Can Cavaliers avoid season sweep or will Bulls win 20th straight on TNT?
Cleveland Cavaliers (47-26) at Chicago Bulls (35-39), 8 p.m. EST
Line: Cavs -5.5. Total 211.
The Cavaliers are struggling. They are not playing like a #1 seed. In fact, Cleveland is not even playing like a playoff team right now.
The Cavaliers have lost 10 of their last 17 games to fall into a virtual tie with the Boston Celtics atop the Eastern Conference standings. During this tailspin, the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors have crept within two and three games of the top spot in the East, respectively.
The Bulls on the other hand, have been a team in turmoil for months. Rajon Rondo was benched by coach Fred Hoiberg during the second half of the Indiana Pacers game on December 31. Rondo sat four consecutive games until he came off the bench and played 27+ minutes against the Wizards on January 10. He returned to the Bulls starting lineup on March 13 against the Charlotte Hornets and played well, scoring 20 points and adding 6 assists and 6 rebounds.
Chicago is 4-4 since Rondo’s return to the starting lineup. Although keep in mind that Dwayne Wade was injured in the second game Rondo returned to the starting lineup on March 15 against Memphis and is out for the season.
There is a quirky stat in play tonight for the Bulls.
Chicago has won 19 straight home games during TNT telecasts, dating back to February 28, 2013, and 18 of those games were on Thursdays. This streak has gotten a lot of attention on social media in recent months. In fact, the streak was mentioned during the TNT broadcast on March 2 when the Bulls defeated the Golden State Warriors 94-87.
The website pregame.com broke down the streak game by game and pointed out that the Bulls are 16-3 ATS (Against The Spread) during this streak.
The Bulls have also beaten the Cavaliers all three meetings this season. Granted, LeBron James and Kevin Love did not play during their last meeting on February 25, but their 3-0 record against Cleveland cannot be ignored.
No team has ever swept a LeBron James’ Cavaliers team 4-0 during any regular season series in his career. The San Antonio Spurs swept LeBron’s Cavaliers in the 2007 Championship Finals, but that was during the postseason. The Brooklyn Nets swept LeBron and the Miami Heat 4-0 during the 2013-14 regular season. All four of those games were nail-biters.
The Bulls 3-0 record against the Cavaliers cannot be ignored because it is not easy for a team in the NBA to sweep a 4-game regular season series from a team of equal or better caliber.
The Bulls last opponent on March 26 was the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks came into that game with a 3-0 regular season record against the Bulls, outscoring them by 57 points in those three victories. Yet Chicago won that fourth meeting 109-94 to avoid the series sweep and stay alive for the last playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls are 1.5 games out of the #8 seed in the East behind the Indiana Pacers, who are fading fast, losing 16 of their last 24 games. So Chicago, despite a tumultuous couple of months internally, still have a shot to make the postseason.
However, it is going to difficult for the Bulls to sweep the season series over Cleveland. Especially with the Cavaliers coming of an embarrassing 29-point loss against the Spurs on national television. The Cavaliers then got to see the Golden State Warriors beat San Antonio 110-98 on national TV last night at the same venue.
Cleveland has a lot of motivation for this game. I always look to take the team with the motivational edge when handicapping NBA games.
Can the Cavaliers be trusted to come out and win a game they are supposed to win tonight?
I do not see any way the Cavaliers do not win this game. I do not care about the Bulls winning 19 straight games on TNT. I look at the situational and motivational spots for every game. The edge here goes to Cleveland. The Cavaliers should win this game. I am confident about that. However, I have no opinion on whether they can cover the 5.5 points. The Bulls could sneak under that Vegas number.
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