Boy did we look smart at the end of the 1st Quarter when the Heat and Bulls combined for 67 points and Tyler Herro (38 points) looked like the reincarnation of Pete Maravich. We still looked a little bit smart at Halftime when the teams had combined for 118 points; needing only a paltry 102 points in the entire 2nd half for the cover. But, alas, no as each team decided to take a quarter off in the second half to kill our 2* STRONG play one OVER 219.5. The Heat came out in the 3rd choosing to sit on their lead and ended the quarter with a whopping 17 points. The Bulls laid down in the 4th as they watched their season wilt away (AT HOME NO LESS!) by pouring in an astounding 16 total points. Much of the Bulls overall offensive ineptitude lies at the feet of Coby White who time and again forced difficult shots, rather than getting their other capable scorers involved. He finished 5 of 20 from the field, and 3 of 12 from deep, and single handedly ensured that Chicago would never get closer than 13 in the 2nd half. But even with the loss it has been a nice, Positive week with 5 Profitable days in the last 7 for Plus 13.8 Units. The NBA has its final 2 Play-In games on Friday and then the Marathon Playoff run begins on Saturday. For those of you who are reading this, who are not yet SUBSCRIBERS, we released a NBA Series play earlier in the week on CLIPPERS -115 Over Denver. Dropping 2 Units on Wednesday brings our rolling 51 day record to 84-62 for PLUS 82.4 UNITS.
2* STRONG – (NBA) Miami/CHICAGO OVER 219.5 (109-90) LOSS
2* STRONG – (NBA) Miami/CHICAGO OVER 219.5: Tonight the Chicago Bulls host the Miami Heat in a Play-In game and this total is set too low considering the history, and pace of play, between these teams. It is likely set lower because the perception is that playoff games are played tighter, and a bit more conservatively, than regular season games but the fact is that these Eastern Conference rivals met 3 times this season and produced 230, 223 and 257 points. Going back further, they are over in 5 of their last 7 games averaging 229 ppg. The Bulls played at the fastest pace in the NBA over their last 15 games and ranked 2nd fastest at HOME over the entire season. On the season Bulls games averaged 239 points, while Heat games averaged 223, and the Heat went OVER in 6 of their last 7 down the stretch. The Bulls went 7-2-1 to the OVER in their last 10 games when playing upper echelon teams. Playoffs, or no Playoffs, these two squads are going to run up and down the court and fire away and neither has the DEFENSE to stop the other. We back points galore in this matchup.