[therocket]

I know I'm looking ahead to Sunday's card but this is a huge revenge game for the bulls. They are still butt hurt about the playoff meltdown last year. This is such a huge game. 2 best teams in east, national tv and an early start on Sunday morning. What's the spread gonna look like?

Can't wait!!!!

[BetaB]

No Deng and Miami @ home probably Mia -6

[therocket]

first time all year bulls are dogs i think....... CHI moneyline will be tempting. But Im a huge bulls fan and havent bet on them all year since xmas beacuse of the huge lines and my natural homerism.

[Reedeman]

i got bulls or a low point total(-180) unless they somehow forget to play defense between now and sunday

[therocket]

Both teams will play d so the under might be set low but still maybe a good play.

[manutd19]

Heat all the way. No Deng to limit Lebron's no...wade back factor. I will be waiting for the in play bet, if it get close at the end of 3rd Q, then am taking bulls cos of that boy called Rose.

[Speedy88]

Really looking forward to this game regardless of betting on it. I love watching these two teams get together. Bulls spread will be very tempting to take if it is +6.

[PR9]

the Bulls defense is heavily dependent on what Deng does for them with his versatility on that end of the floor, their D is very reliant on Deng as so much works off him. Deng is the most underrated defender in the league. He should have been on at least one All-NBA defensive team in his career thus far. Bulls head coach came out last year when noah and boozer were fighting some injuries and stated: "As long as we have Deng we will be fine defensively, and as a team" - he didn't mention rose, he said Deng is their true catalyst for everything they do.

without deng miami has huge advantages as it stretches the bulls D and makes other players make up for the loss of deng- and they become "overstretched" and not nearly the same defense without Deng. Boozer already stinks on defense but he is even worse when he has to overstretch his area to cover (he's flat out total garbage in this case and Bosh will eat him alive as he did in that playoff series). Brewer is ok and of course he is no deng. Then you have the fact that it's also a problem with a bench player coming in for brewer making them even worse.

Deng is the matchup on lebron and lebron will be relieved not to have deng around. And then you have the fact that they used Brewer and Bogans on Dwyane Wade but bogans is no longer on the team and brewer will be too busy getting waxed by lebron.

Wade has never had a subpar playoff playoff series in his life, he is a remarkable playoff performer. However, last year one could argue that he was definitely subpar from an offensive standpoint in the bulls series. But from a rebounding perspective he was a total beast. And the Heat really needed that from Wade as the bulls thrive off of their rebounding,, the Bulls are a VERY Mediocre team unless they have a distinct rebounding advantage,, and Wade is the best rebounding SG in the league (just look up the Bulls mediocre record in games last year when they didn't have a stark rebounding advantage and it will tell you everything you need to know from that perspective)... and of course, to go along with his fantastic rebounding abilities and very critical rebounds in that series, defensively Wade was a total beast in that series as well:

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/mia...game-2-defense

+

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post?id=8099

Dwyane Wade played like a big man

his athleticism and versatility allow him to lift his team in other facets of the game.

Wade is averaging seven-plus rebounds and a block per game in the playoffs; a rate you’d expect to see from a power forward. if he maintains that in the Finals, he would become the first player in the modern era 6-foot-5 or shorter to record those postseason averages.

But alot of people only go by offensive output in basketball and have no clue how to really watch games (talking about the "casual" nba fans). So from that front it was Wade's first subpar playoff series of his career. I am certain Wade wants to have a great performance here vs the bulls at home, he is from chicago and he heard it all last year with his subpar offensive performance in that series. I'm sure it's still echoing in his mind knowing what a terrific competitor he is.

With Keith Bogans and his defense not there anymore, and with no one really good defensively to put on him (Wade has a history of ripping RIP apart and in embarrassing fashion, and Korver is absolute trash defensively),, I see Wade having a big game as this will be "his" personal revenge (especially considering how well he played vs the knicks last night)

It may be a revenge game for the bulls, and i am a believer in revenge games vs teams that got ousted in the playoffs (one of the reasons I was big on Indy the other night to cover the +9 in chicago - but another reason was they were without deng). Like Heat to win in this spot especially since they're at home, don't know by how much yet until i look at it further. Probably going with Heat 1st half regardless, think they want to put on a show early in a sunday afternoon game at home (as they've done in the past for these weekend afternoon games)

[PR9]

thinking about it further, I think the Heat roll here. Last night the knicks attempted a ridiculous 43 three-pointers, there was no other way they were going to come close to winning unless they had a historical performance from long distance. They made 18 of them , the highest total against from downtown in Heat history... and the Heat still won by double-digits.

If you told anyone before the game that the knicks would hit 18 three-pointers with all that luck on their side, with the Heat hitting only 2 and only attempting 10, they'd say the Knicks win it easily. But Wade was just incredible last night in his 32 minutes not only on the offensive end of the floor, but defensively as well with his 5 steals and multiple blocked shots,, that it didn't matter what the knicks shot from downtown. Wade was a tazmanian devil making plays all over that court like he was shot out of a cannon.

The Heat heard all about the heat losing in the 3 games wade returned the last time starting in golden state, but that was on the road during a west coast swing (where they didn't play well last year either). Now they are at home though. They had a tremendous sense of urgency last night with Wade back and I see that continuing and riding out, at home.

As much as the bulls want revenge they are quite simply outmatched here. And they are terribly outmatched playing against a motivated Heat team filled with energy.

The Heat also have something to prove, in proving how the regular season games last year were a fluke between these teams. Great spot for Heat. Miami rolls here.

[Elad]

KJ vs. DR + Deng out = Heat win.

[chantrain]

Bulls been playing bad, all the injuries have totally ****** up any chemistry they had. Defense is whack, offense is back to "give it to Rose and hope he does something magical with it".

Brewers jump shot is gone, Korver has been ice cold.

[Love The Action]

Deng's defense will be missed because he guards LeBron as well as anyone in the league. With the said, the Bulls are one of the hardest playing teams that always give great effort. In addition, this is one of those games that Derrick Rose has had circled on his schedule. He usually proves victorious when he makes a point of seeking "revenge." I will be interested to see where this one opens. I would not be surprised to see the Bulls at +3 with Wade in and Deng out. Always difficult to fade the Heat at home though....

[manutd19]

thinking about it further, I think the Heat roll here. Last night the knicks attempted a ridiculous 43 three-pointers, there was no other way they were going to come close to winning unless they had a historical performance from long distance. They made 18 of them , the highest total against from downtown in Heat history... and the Heat still won by double-digits.

If you told anyone before the game that the knicks would hit 18 three-pointers with all that luck on their side, with the Heat hitting only 2 and only attempting 10, they'd say the Knicks win it easily. But Wade was just incredible last night in his 32 minutes not only on the offensive end of the floor, but defensively as well with his 5 steals and multiple blocked shots,, that it didn't matter what the knicks shot from downtown. Wade was a tazmanian devil making plays all over that court like he was shot out of a cannon.

The Heat heard all about the heat losing in the 3 games wade returned the last time starting in golden state, but that was on the road during a west coast swing (where they didn't play well last year either). Now they are at home though. They had a tremendous sense of urgency last night with Wade back and I see that continuing and riding out, at home.

As much as the bulls want revenge they are quite simply outmatched here. And they are terribly outmatched playing against a motivated Heat team filled with energy.

The Heat also have something to prove, in proving how the regular season games last year were a fluke between these teams. Great spot for Heat. Miami rolls here.

Fluke? How many times was those fluke. Shows you are a heats fan

[PR9]

fluke, playoffs proved that


you can't beat the Heat in a playoff series with just one true shot creator. Period

[BigDeem5]

Miami -4!!!

[PREMOSIX]

i like teaser with bulls -11..miami will not beat chicago by more than 11 if they win at all

[manutd19]

Easy pick. Miami all the way

[therocket]

Bulls keep it close, might come down to the last possession. Tibs is a great coach and will have everyone playing at max effort on d. With wade back the heat have another shooter/ ball hog. They looked better with Lebrun and bosh as the primary offensive playmakers. I hope this game is everything we hope it is.

Can't wait.

[d2bets]

fluke, playoffs proved that


you can't beat the Heat in a playoff series with just one true shot creator. Period

Maybe the fluke was some of the playoff games. Anyway, we know Heatles fanboys reaction after this game. If the Bulls win, it's "regular season means nothing, you can't beat us in the playoffs" and if the Heat win it's "see you can't even beat us in the regular season let alone the playoffs".

Anyway, I'm waiting for the status of Rip and Deng. Bulls can afford missing one of them, but not both. I think Deng should sit, but hopefully is Rip is good to go.

[riffraff24]

thinking about it further, I think the Heat roll here. Last night the knicks attempted a ridiculous 43 three-pointers, there was no other way they were going to come close to winning unless they had a historical performance from long distance. They made 18 of them , the highest total against from downtown in Heat history... and the Heat still won by double-digits.

If you told anyone before the game that the knicks would hit 18 three-pointers with all that luck on their side, with the Heat hitting only 2 and only attempting 10, they'd say the Knicks win it easily. But Wade was just incredible last night in his 32 minutes not only on the offensive end of the floor, but defensively as well with his 5 steals and multiple blocked shots,, that it didn't matter what the knicks shot from downtown. Wade was a tazmanian devil making plays all over that court like he was shot out of a cannon.

The Heat heard all about the heat losing in the 3 games wade returned the last time starting in golden state, but that was on the road during a west coast swing (where they didn't play well last year either). Now they are at home though. They had a tremendous sense of urgency last night with Wade back and I see that continuing and riding out, at home.

As much as the bulls want revenge they are quite simply outmatched here. And they are terribly outmatched playing against a motivated Heat team filled with energy.

The Heat also have something to prove, in proving how the regular season games last year were a fluke between these teams. Great spot for Heat. Miami rolls here.

this clown. Such a homer and not even from MIA