Tip off: 8:05 PM EST
Spread: CHI -2.5
Total: 176.5
M/L: CHI -140, BOS +120
The Bulls are once again leading the Central with a 10-2 record and are 6-2 on the road, as 8 of their 14 and their 9th of 15 so far have been on the road. They just finished off a low scoring affair Wednesday night against the Wizards, in which the teams combined for only 142 points, but the Bulls prevailed by 14. What makes it worse for the Wizards is that not only were the Bulls without Derrick Rose, but his backup John Lucas went nuts and scored 25 points while attempting 28 field goals. Such shows the lack of respect for many teams towards Wizards point guard John Wall.
Tonight against the Celtics, Rose will attack another premier point guard in Rajon Rondo. Rose is averaging 21.1 points per game against the Celtics over his career while shooting 49.1%. On one day’s rest this year, he is averaging 22.3 points per game, which is actually above his average this season of 20.7 Rose has been shooting the ball well and playing just fine; he is just taking a few less shots per game and trying to involve his teammates more. His assists are at a career high notch of 8.6 at the moment, and he is also shooting nearly 90% from the stripe.
The Celtics are now 4-5, and things are looking shaky in Boston. Paul Pierce missed the early part of this season and is struggling badly to find his rhythm. It will come in time, but the Celts need to start winning now. They just dropped a game by 5 to the Mavs on Wednesday, which was their second straight, after having lost to the Pacers Friday night of last week. They received an unusual four day rest, which they hopefully enjoyed, as they play a rather packed scheduile just like every other team in this condensed season. After tonight’s game, they face the Pacers in a rematch in Indiana, so this back to back with the Bulls and Pacers could prove problematic.
Ray Allen has been completely ageless and leads the Celtics in scoring. He has made it clear he plans on playing until age 40 and I see no reason why he shouldn’t. Allen is putting up 19.0 points per game and shooting a pretty absurd 62.8% from distance. In addition to shooting at that clip from three, he is hitting 55.7% overall from the field and playing 34 minutes a game. Only Rondo is seeing more time, and Rondo is second on the team in scoring with 15.8 per game.
Bulls Betting Trends:
The Bulls are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games and the total has gone OVER In 5 of their last 6 on the road. The Bulls are 5-1 SU in their last 6 road games and 4-2 SU In their last 6 in Boston. The total has gone UNDER In 4 of the Bulls’ last 6 games against the Celts and the total has gone OVER In 8 of the Bulls’ last 9 road games in Boston.
Celtics Betting Trends:
The Celtics are 4-2 SU in their last 6 games and the total has gone UNDER in 5 of their last 6. The Celtics are 10-3 SU in their last 13 games at home and are 2-4 ATS In their last 6 at home. THe total has gone UNDER IN 4 of the Celts last 5 at home and UNDER In 4 of their last 6 against the Bulls. The Celtics are 1-5 ATS In their last 6 vs Chicago and the total has gone OVER In 8 of the last 9 at home against the Bulls. The Celtics are 6-1 SU in their last 7 home games against Chicago.
Key Matchup:
Derrick Rose vs. Rajon Rondo
I already alluded to both players in the intro, but this is also the premier matchup between two of the best point guards in the game. While Rose is clearly the better scorer of the two, as the league MVP, Rondo is still a better passer at this point in their careers. Rondo will look to involve Pierce and Kevin Garnett as much as possible to try to get the team going. He is also good at stimulating the play of Brandon Bass off the bench, since Rondo plays 36 minutes a game, he is often on the floor with the reserves, as well.
Rose knows he has to make Rondo work hard defensively, and will of course seek to attack even the best defenders. Even with Rose’s improved jumper, expect Rondo to test his shot early on and prevent Rose from getting to the hole where he could make much tougher on the Celtics by getting Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Richard Hamilton in on the action.
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