The first play-in tournament game in the National Basketball Association for Friday features the Miami Heat on the road at the Chicago Bulls. The Miami Heat lost their first play-in game on Wednesday to the Philadelphia 76ers. The winner of this game gets to the postseason, and will be the 8th seed. They will take on the Boston Celtics, with the series starting on Sunday in Boston. The loser will be done for the season.
The Chicago Bulls, who went 39-43 during the regular season are coming off a blowout win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls scored 131 points in the game. Chicago was 9th in the East most of the season.
The Miami Heat went 46-36 during the regular season. The Heat were right around 6th-8th in the East for most of the season. The Heat won their final two games of the regular season.
The Miami Heat at home are -1.5 over the Chicago Bulls.
Big Game Coby
It was a monster game for Coby White on Wednesday. The point guard played 43 minutes, and scored 42 points. He also dished out 6 assists and recorded 9 rebounds in the win. DeMar DeRozan added 22 points and 9 assists in the game as well. Nikola Vucevic also picked up 24 and 12 for Chicago.
During the regular season, the Bulls DeRozan missed just three games all season. That is far different from Zach LaVine, who saw his season end on January 18th. DeRozan scored 24 points per game. White was third on the team with just over 19 per game.
Chicago, as a team, is scoring 112.3 points per game. The Bulls make 47% from the field, and 35.8% from downtown. The Bulls are averaging 11.5 three point shots per game. Chicago ended the regular season with three straight road games. The Bulls won in Detroit and Washington before falling to the Knicks.
Injured Heat
The Miami Heat will not have Jimmy Butler for this game. He is out with an injury. He played 39 minutes in the loss to the 76ers, and scored 19 points. The Heat were led by Tyler Herro, who scored 25 in the game. Jaime Jaquez came off the bench and added 15 points from Miami.
During the regular season, Butler played in 60 games, and was the top scorer, with just shy of 21 points per game. Herro played in his 42 games this season, but has been back for the last couple weeks. Bam Adebayo is the big threat inside for Miami. The center is scoring 19.3 per game and ripping down 10.4 rebounds.
Miami is scoring 110.1 points per game. That ranks 26th in all of the league. The Heat are one of the slowest paced teams in the league. The Heat make 12.5 three point shots per game, and are one of the top free throw shooting teams. Miami makes 81.8%.
Bulls Stun Miami on the Road
The Chicago Bulls are in better health, and better spirits. The one point loss for the Heat really put them down in their spirits coming into this game. This is a team that went to the NBA Finals a season ago. But, when push comes to shove, with Butler gone, this is a tough ask for the Heat to win this game.
We are going to take the Chicago Bulls at +110 on the moneyline over the Miami Heat. The Bulls win this game, and start their series in Boston on Sunday. Good luck with all your betting for the NBA Playoffs. Enjoy the games!
