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Chicago At Cleveland: NBA Betting Analysis
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio TV: TNT NBA Odds: Cleveland -5 Points Over/Under: 190Analysis
The Bulls and Cavs have alternated game-winning shots over the last two games with James nailing a game-winner on Sunday to lift Cleveland to a stunning 86-84 win in Game 4 that regained them homecourt advantage for the series and tonight’s Game 5. Rose banked in a game-winning three-pointer in Game 3 to give the Bulls an equally-shocking 99-96 victory on Friday night. James, who scored a team-high 25 points but shot a dismal 10-for-30, called off head coach David Blatt’s play to have him in-bound the ball and demanded he receive the ball before knocking down the game-winner. The Bulls blew a huge opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 series lead when they went ice-cold from the field in the fourth quarter. Chicago led by 11 points late in the third quarter of Game 4 before falling apart. “We just got to be a lot smarter with the lead,” Bulls forward Taj Gibson told reporters. “Going into the fourth we had a good margin. We just blew it.”
“Just too many duds for offensive possessions,” forward Mike Dunleavy told reporters. “We’ve had issues with that all year. Especially here in the playoffs, our ball movement has been slowing us down, and we kind of get stagnant.”
Thankfully, Rose is close to his old MVP-caliber ways this postseason. The elite floor leader has scored 30 or more points in consecutive games and is averaging 25.0 points per game in the series.
Rose scored 31 on Sunday but Chicago shot an awful 36.0 percent from the field in the loss while getting out-rebounded 44-40.
Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving is clearly hurting. The Cavs, ball-handling wizard and elite scorer has shot just 5-for-23 shooting over the last two games.
“I’d rather give 30 percent, 40 percent rather than give none at all,” Irving told reporters. “I just literally can’t do it. I can’t sit on the bench and be hurt and be OK with that. And still, I still know I can be effective.”
James sprained his left ankle in the second half of Sunday’s game but will be a go for tonight’s matchup although point guard Kyrie Irving is pretty banged-up with right foot soreness and left knee tendonitis.
For Chicago, veteran power forward Pau Gasol will likely sit for the second straight game tonight with a hamstring injury.
Prediction
LeBron James is shooting the ball awfully, Kevin Love is lost for the postseason and Kyrie Irving looks like a man with one good leg. Still, the Cleveland Cavaliers are finding a way to beat a Chicago Bulls team that simply isn’t very good offensively.
As a matter of fact, watching Chicago at the offensive end of the floor is akin to watching paint dry and simply allows Cleveland and James to hang around in every contest despite their lack of healthy bodies.
I know the Cavaliers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS loss and 5-2 ATS in their last seven home games against a team with a winning road record, but the Bulls have gone 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games against a team with a winning SU record and 5-2 ATS in their last seven road games.
The Bulls are also 8-3 ATS in the last 11 road games against the Cavs, making them the easy pick to cash in as five-point road dogs tonight.
