Monday's Best NBA Bets
Philadelphia 76ers at Chicago Bulls (-10, 192)
With Derrick Rose getting all sorts of MVP talk lately and the Bulls on a healthy hot streak that has seen them lose just once over the past 13 games, you wouldn’t think coach Tom Thibodeau would have too much to complain about.
However, Thibodeau isn’t happy with his club’s slow starts lately.
The Bulls gave up 48 points to the Bucks in the first half on Saturday with Milwaukee shooting 47 percent. After the break, Chicago clamped down on defense and held to Bucks to 39 points in the second half on 31.7 percent shooting.
That was enough to help Chicago to a 95-87 victory, cashing in as a 5.5-point favorite.
"We're a team that has a lot of confidence in our defense," forward Joakim Noah said. "We feel we're never out of it. We're a team of fighters and a lot of character."
That much is true, but this line looks too fat to us.
Pick: 76ers
Milwaukee Bucks at Charlotte Bobcats (-1.5, 177.5)
The Bucks and Bobcats are battling for eighth spot in the Easter Conference – a spot that Indiana currently occupies.
Charlotte heads into the game coming off a pair of big wins over Boston and New York. The Bobcats dropped the Knicks 114-106 as a 4.5-point underdog on Saturday, with eight different players scoring in double figures.
Meanwhile, the Bucks are just coming off that tough loss to the Bulls after leading by as many as 15 points.
“We still got a chance (at the playoffs), it’s gonna come down to probably the last couple games of the season - we’re still right there,” swingman John Salmons told reporters. “We just have to continue to play (hard) down the stretch for the rest of the season and see what happens.”
There’s talk that Michael Redd may make his debut on Monday, but we like Charlotte’s depth here.
Pick: Bobcats
Chicago Bulls host Philadelphia 76ers
By: Michael Robinson
The Chicago Bulls continue their push for the Eastern Conference’s top seed as they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
NBA-TV will have the 5 p.m. (PT) broadcast from the United Center.
Chicago (53-19 straight-up, 45-25-2 against the spread) found ways to win over the weekend, which is what championship teams are supposed to do. The first game was a close 99-96 home win over Memphis on Friday. Derrick Rose scored the team’s final six points, although failing to ‘cover’ the nine-point spread.
Saturday night was equally precarious in Milwaukee, just a short 90 mile drive north from Chi-town. The offensively challenged Bucks led 87-83 with under three minutes left before a furious 12-0 Bulls rally to end the game. Rose was again the hero with eight late points (30 overall) and the 95-87 final covered the 5 ½-points.
The 182 combined points scored went ‘over’ the low 178-point total. The ‘over’ is 5-0 in Chicago’s last five games after a prolonged ‘under’ streak of 10-2 in the previous 12.
The Bulls have now won four straight and are an incredible 19-3 SU and 17-5 ATS since February 9. Their talent is far more than just MVP-candidate Rose (24.9 PPG, 7.9 APG) with an excellent frontline of Joakim Noah (12.2 PPG, 11 RPG), Carlos Boozer (17.8 PPG) and Luol Deng (17.7 PPG).
Tom Thibodeau is doing an incredible job considering he was last a head coach at unknown Salem State in 1984. However, the longtime NBA assistant is considered a defensive guru by all accounts and Chicago is second in scoring defense (91.1 PPG).
Thibodeau’s guys are especially tough at home. There’s a 14-game winning streak there (11-3 ATS) and 32-4 SU (23-11-2 ATS) on the year.
The Bulls now lead the conference by 2.5 games over fading Boston and three over Miami. They’re getting lot of respect at plus 325 NBA title odds at Bookmaker.com. That’s ahead of Boston and Miami (both plus 350), only trailing the L.A. Lakers (plus 205).
The 76ers (37-36 SU, 43-29-1 ATS) sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and have a playoff spot basically sewn up.
Philadelphia’s last game was Sunday at home against Sacramento, the second meeting between the teams in nine days. The 76ers lost 114-111 in overtime as 8 ½-point favorites. Their bench was outscored badly (35-14) and they also lost the battle of the boards (58-36).
Philly is 0-4 ATS in its last four games. The ‘over’ is 4-0 in the last four.
The 76ers now travel to the Midwest and are 9-10 ATS in the second half of back-to-back situations this year. Their road record has been poor at 14-24 SU, but a solid 22-15-1 ATS.
Philadelphia is just 17th in the league in scoring (99.2 PPG). It has six players averaging in double-digits, but no superstar with Elton Brand the leader (14.8 PPG).
The home team is 2-0 SU and ATS in games between Chicago and Philly this year. The Bulls won their home game 121-76 as five-point ‘chalk’ right before Christmas and that was with Noah still out with his thumb injury.
The ’over’ is 2-0 this year and 10-2-1 in the last 13 meetings between the teams.
These teams have had far different results playing on Monday, Chicago is 10-2-1 ATS in its last 13, while Philly is 2-9 ATS in its last 11.
Neither team is reporting any significant injuries.
Chicago will move onto Minnesota for a Wednesday night tilt, while Philadelphia hosts Houston the same night.