NBA Preview: Bulls look to leap into a 3-way tie for #7 seed with Miami and Indiana.
Atlanta Hawks (39-36) at Chicago Bulls (36-39), 5 p.m. EST
Line: Bulls -4.5. Total 204.
Chicago became just the second team to sweep a LeBron James’ team in a 4-game regular season series March 30 with their 99-93 victory over the Cavaliers. The Brooklyn Nets were the only other team to accomplish that feat back in 2013-14, when they swept the regular season series 4-0 against LeBron’s Miami Heat. The win also gave the Bulls 20 straight home victories in games televised on TNT.
The Bulls avoided a 4-game regular season sweep to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 26 with a 109-94 win. Chicago will now try and avoid a 4-game regular season sweep to the Hawks today.
The Bulls have been an enigma this season. They have the second-best record against the league’s best teams, yet are 18-20 against teams with sub-.500 records. Despite a tumultuous three-month stretch, the Bulls have won 4 of their last 6 games and appear to be on track to make the playoffs. Chicago is just half a game behind the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers for one of the final two playoff berths in the Eastern Conference.
The Hawks are 5-15 in their last 20 games and are barely hanging on to a playoff berth. Atlanta currently has the #6 seed, but they only have a 2.5 game lead over the Bulls. The Hawks are 2-5 since Paul Millsap has been out with a knee injury.
The Bulls appear to be peaking at just the right time. Atlanta lost 6 straight games before winning their last two games. They beat Phoenix and Philadelphia, two of the worst five teams in the league, in very unconvincing fashion. The Hawks have currently gone under 8 consecutive games.
Los Angeles Lakers (21-54) at Los Angeles Clippers (46-31), 3:30 p.m. EST
Line: Clippers -14.5. Total 224.5.
The Clippers have owned the Lakers in recent years, winning 13 of the last 14 meetings. The Lakers finally snapped that streak with a 111-102 win this past Christmas. However, the Clippers started a new streak with two straight wins since that loss.
The Lakers have lost 9 of their last 10 games, 18 of their last 20 and the list just gets worse from there. After a 10-10 record to start the season, the Lakers have gone 11-44.
The Lakers have gone over 10 of their last 12 games. The Clippers have gone over 5 of their last 7 games and have flown over the total their last two games. The Clippers beat the Washington Wizards 133-124 on March 29 and followed that up with a 124-118 win on March 30 over the Phoenix Suns. Those two games combined went over the Vegas totals by 59 points.
The Clippers defeated the Lakers 133-109 on March 21, going 18 points over the Vegas total. This is an afternoon game and the general rule of thumb is that afternoon games go under in the NBA. However, after 28 of the first 47 afternoon games went under this season (60%), the over has gone 5-2-1 the last 8 afternoon games.
Phoenix Suns (22-54) at Portland Trail Blazers (37-38), 10 p.m. EST
Line: Blazers -12. Total 222.
Portland got some bad news on Friday. Their rookie center, Jusuf Nurkic, the “Bosnian Beast”, suffered a non-displaced fibular fracture in his right leg during their game on Thursday against the Houston Rockets.
Nurkic will be re-evaluated after two weeks and could possibly return for the playoffs. That is, if the Blazers can hang on to the #8 seed without him
The Blazers are 14-6 since acquiring Nurkic from the Denver Nuggets in a trade on February 12. Portland has won 5 straight and 8 of their last 9 games to overtake the Nuggets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference as they hold on to a 1.5 game lead over them.
The Suns have lost 10 straight and 12 of their last 13 games. However they have covered the Vegas spread in 3 of their last 4 games. Phoenix went under 7 consecutive games before going over 3 of their last 4 games. The Blazers have gone under 5 of their last 6 games.
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