Bulls, Raptors take season to final day
And then there was one, as in one day left in the NBA's regular season. We don't know much more about the playoffs than we did a week ago with the seeding out West still up in the air and the last slot in the East still undecided. Andrea Bargnani and the Raptors will be at home to take on the Knicks while the Chicago Bulls travel to Charlotte and can lock up the final postseason invitation with a win over the Bobcats.
One of these two teams will face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the 2010 NBA playoffs. The other moves up into the draft lottery with about a 2.5 percent chance of landing a top three pick. Which fate would you choose?
I’m a sporting guy, so I happen to choose playing the Cavaliers – especially if I’m a member of the Chicago Bulls. They’ve won two of their three regular season games against Cleveland, so why not four out of seven?
All right, the Bulls didn’t have to face LeBron James in last week’s narrow 109-108 victory over the Cavs (+6½) at the United Center. But back in November at the Quicken Loans Arena, both James and Shaquille O’Neal were on duty as Chicago won 86-85, cashing in as a gigantic 11½-point underdog.
We’ll know sometime Wednesday night whether the Bulls (40-41 SU, 41-38-2 ATS) will indeed get to play Cleveland in the first round. They hold the No. 8 seed, one game up on the Toronto Raptors (39-42 SU, 38-43 ATS) with one game left to play. Toronto holds the tiebreaker after beating Chicago two out of three this year; that means the Raptors will make the playoffs provided they win on Wednesday and the Bulls lose. Any other outcome and it’s lottery balls for Toronto.
This one could go either way. The Raptors will play at home against the New York Knicks (29-52 SU, 38-42-1 ATS), while the Bulls are off to Charlotte to face the Bobcats (44-37 SU, 44-36-1 ATS). Both games start at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, which makes things a lot easier for handicappers – we don’t have to worry about the Bulls mailing it in because they already know the Raptors lost. But we do have to wonder just how competitive Charlotte will be.
The Bobcats are the No. 7 seed in the East no matter what happens on Wednesday. This would normally be a good time for coach Larry Brown to rest his starters, but because of the playoff ramifications, Brown says he will “go out and try to win.” Whether or not that means Gerald Wallace (18.39 PER) will play remains to be seen. Wallace sat out Monday’s 105-95 win over the New Jersey Nets (+4½) in East Rutherford and is listed as day-to-day with a bruised left shoulder.
Not every book out there is willing to take Brown at his word. Some have posted betting odds of Charlotte +2; others have kept the game off the board entirely. Early consensus reports show 65 percent support for the Bulls. They have a lot at stake; the Bobcats do not, and that lack of motivation will be there no matter how many minutes Brown gives his starting five.
Toronto’s story is much simpler. The Knicks are out of the playoffs, and they don’t have any real motivation to “tank” this game since their first-round draft pick belongs to the Utah Jazz. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Knicks will come out with a lot of zest in the season finale north of the border.
They’ve lost seven of their last 10 games (at 5-5 ATS) and are winless in three attempts against the Raptors this year (at 1-2 ATS). Bookies opened Toronto at -7½ and quickly moved them to -8 with consensus reports showing 77 percent support for the Dinos.
The one game the Raptors failed to cover was also the one game they didn’t have Chris Bosh (25.13 PER) in the lineup. That was one month ago in a 102-96 Raptors victory as 8-point home faves. Bosh won’t be playing Wednesday, either – he was accidentally elbowed in the face last week by Antawn Jamison of the Cavaliers. Toronto is just 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS since that injury, including the loss to the Cavs. The Knicks must really be lousy to be +8 in this contest. But hey, in just a few short months, they might have both James and Bosh on their roster.
And then there was one, as in one day left in the NBA's regular season. We don't know much more about the playoffs than we did a week ago with the seeding out West still up in the air and the last slot in the East still undecided. Andrea Bargnani and the Raptors will be at home to take on the Knicks while the Chicago Bulls travel to Charlotte and can lock up the final postseason invitation with a win over the Bobcats.
One of these two teams will face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the 2010 NBA playoffs. The other moves up into the draft lottery with about a 2.5 percent chance of landing a top three pick. Which fate would you choose?
I’m a sporting guy, so I happen to choose playing the Cavaliers – especially if I’m a member of the Chicago Bulls. They’ve won two of their three regular season games against Cleveland, so why not four out of seven?
All right, the Bulls didn’t have to face LeBron James in last week’s narrow 109-108 victory over the Cavs (+6½) at the United Center. But back in November at the Quicken Loans Arena, both James and Shaquille O’Neal were on duty as Chicago won 86-85, cashing in as a gigantic 11½-point underdog.
We’ll know sometime Wednesday night whether the Bulls (40-41 SU, 41-38-2 ATS) will indeed get to play Cleveland in the first round. They hold the No. 8 seed, one game up on the Toronto Raptors (39-42 SU, 38-43 ATS) with one game left to play. Toronto holds the tiebreaker after beating Chicago two out of three this year; that means the Raptors will make the playoffs provided they win on Wednesday and the Bulls lose. Any other outcome and it’s lottery balls for Toronto.
This one could go either way. The Raptors will play at home against the New York Knicks (29-52 SU, 38-42-1 ATS), while the Bulls are off to Charlotte to face the Bobcats (44-37 SU, 44-36-1 ATS). Both games start at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, which makes things a lot easier for handicappers – we don’t have to worry about the Bulls mailing it in because they already know the Raptors lost. But we do have to wonder just how competitive Charlotte will be.
The Bobcats are the No. 7 seed in the East no matter what happens on Wednesday. This would normally be a good time for coach Larry Brown to rest his starters, but because of the playoff ramifications, Brown says he will “go out and try to win.” Whether or not that means Gerald Wallace (18.39 PER) will play remains to be seen. Wallace sat out Monday’s 105-95 win over the New Jersey Nets (+4½) in East Rutherford and is listed as day-to-day with a bruised left shoulder.
Not every book out there is willing to take Brown at his word. Some have posted betting odds of Charlotte +2; others have kept the game off the board entirely. Early consensus reports show 65 percent support for the Bulls. They have a lot at stake; the Bobcats do not, and that lack of motivation will be there no matter how many minutes Brown gives his starting five.
Toronto’s story is much simpler. The Knicks are out of the playoffs, and they don’t have any real motivation to “tank” this game since their first-round draft pick belongs to the Utah Jazz. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Knicks will come out with a lot of zest in the season finale north of the border.
They’ve lost seven of their last 10 games (at 5-5 ATS) and are winless in three attempts against the Raptors this year (at 1-2 ATS). Bookies opened Toronto at -7½ and quickly moved them to -8 with consensus reports showing 77 percent support for the Dinos.
The one game the Raptors failed to cover was also the one game they didn’t have Chris Bosh (25.13 PER) in the lineup. That was one month ago in a 102-96 Raptors victory as 8-point home faves. Bosh won’t be playing Wednesday, either – he was accidentally elbowed in the face last week by Antawn Jamison of the Cavaliers. Toronto is just 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS since that injury, including the loss to the Cavs. The Knicks must really be lousy to be +8 in this contest. But hey, in just a few short months, they might have both James and Bosh on their roster.
