Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers (Game 2)
Bulls lead best of seven 1-0.
Time: 7:05 PM EDT
TV: TNT
Spread: CLE -5.5
M/L: CLE -240; CHI +200
Total: 195
Betting odds c/o Bovada
The Chicago Bulls may have been underdogs in Game 1, but LeBron James and the Cavaliers proceeded to drop its home opener in the series and now trail Chicago 0-1 in the Best of seven. NBA oddsmakers at Bovada continue to favor the Cavs despite the letdown, with NBA live odds showing the Cavaliers as 5.5 point favorites. Oddsmakers also set the total at 195 for the contest, and for an explanation of how to bet the spread or the over/under, see our NBA odds explained.
The Bulls won Game 1 by a count of 99-92, as Chicago stormed out to a 12-point lead after the first period. The Cavs fought back to cut it to five by the half, but the Bulls re-extended the lead back to 11 to enter the fourth quarter. That was enough given the slow pace of the game to help put things on ice for Coach Tom Thibodeau and his squad. The Bulls did a superb job on LeBron James, limiting him to 9-of-22 shooting and just 19 points, while Kyrie Irving did considerably more damage, scoring 30 points and dropping six assists.
Oddly, Iman Shumpert got in on the scoring act where James couldn’t and gave the Cavs 22 atypical points. All of this was hardly enough with the Cavs bench scoring just nine points and no players outside of the aforementioned trio having much of an impact at all.
Most notably, the player Cleveland needed to step up the most did a near vanishing act: Tristan Thompson. The free agent to-be played 37 minutes but attempted just two field goals in that span of time while grabbing eight boards. Thompson has been said to be railing for a max-contract this summer, and if he plays anything like that the rest of the series he is going to play his way right out of it.
Kevin Love’s injury wasn’t (universally) expected to be a crippling blow to the Cavs because Thompson can pick up where he left off—or he should have been able to. But if Thompson is playing as passively as to only attempt two field goals on a night with so few other Cavs looking to do it offensively, the Bulls are going to have no problem defeating the Cavs in what remains of this series.
For Chicago, signs certainly looked good for the oft-maligned Derrick Rose. Rose attempted 26 field goals while playing 39 minutes, both signs of heavy usage that for now appear to have no ill repercussions. Rose made 11 of his shots, including three triples, and he also grabbed five rebound and five assists to go with his team-high 25 points. He was one of three Bulls to score 20-plus, with Pau Gasol and Jimmy Butler both having shot a combined 17-of-32. The Bulls shot 50 percent from the floor as a team.
Thibodeau has relied less on his bench as this postseason has unravelled, and rookie Nikola Mirotic saw just two minutes in Game 1. That may have been due to matchups, or it may be that Mike Dunleavy is just more experienced and Thibbs trusts him more at this point. There’s not really any sense determining which, because given the fact that the Bulls won Game 1, it will likely continue. The Bulls bench attempted just 12 field goals collectively, though it did connect on seven of those.
COMPREHENSIVE BETING TRENDS:
ATS Trends:
Chicago
• Bulls are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
• Bulls are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
• Bulls are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a S.U. win.
• Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a ATS win.
• Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games.
• Bulls are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
• Bulls are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games overall.
• Bulls are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 vs. Eastern Conference.
• Bulls are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. NBA Central.
• Bulls are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
Cleveland
• Cavaliers are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 Wednesday games.
• Cavaliers are 13-6 ATS in their last 19 games following a ATS loss.
• Cavaliers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games.
• Cavaliers are 4-11 ATS in their last 15 vs. NBA Central.
• Cavaliers are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games playing on 1 days rest.
• Cavaliers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Conference Semifinals games.
O/U Trends
Chicago
• Under is 4-0 in Bulls last 4 games playing on 1 days rest.
• Under is 4-0 in Bulls last 4 overall.
• Under is 4-0 in Bulls last 4 vs. Eastern Conference.
• Under is 4-0 in Bulls last 4 vs. NBA Central.
• Under is 19-7 in Bulls last 26 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
• Under is 16-6 in Bulls last 22 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
Cleveland
• Under is 4-0 in Cavaliers last 4 overall.
• Over is 6-0 in Cavaliers last 6 Wednesday games.
• Under is 4-0 in Cavaliers last 4 vs. Eastern Conference.
• Under is 21-8 in Cavaliers last 29 Conference Semifinals games.
• Over is 5-2 in Cavaliers last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
• Under is 5-2 in Cavaliers last 7 vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
• Under is 19-8-1 in Cavaliers last 28 games following a S.U. loss.
• Under is 41-18-1 in Cavaliers last 60 games playing on 1 days rest.
• Under is 19-9 in Cavaliers last 28 home games.
• Under is 37-18 in Cavaliers last 55 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Head to Head
• Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Cleveland.
• Bulls are 8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Cleveland.
• Bulls are 13-4 ATS in the last 17 meetings.
• Under is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
• Underdog is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
(Trends c/o Covers)
