NBA Basketball
2009-04-18 - Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Boston Celtics
Boston may be the reigning NBA Champions, but they will have it all to do if they are to retain their crown let alone win the Eastern Conference. It looks very likely that Kevin Garnett will miss the entire post season with his injury which is a key loss for the Celtics.
Boston come into this first match of the playoffs having won 12 of their last 14 regular season games to lock the number 2 seed in the Conference. They ended the season with a 62-20 record and were 35-6 at home.
The Celtics are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 games but they are only 5-11 against the spread in their last 16 games at home. An interesting statistic is that Boston are only 1-6 in their last 7 games as favourites of between 5 and 11 points and are also 1-8 in playoff games when favourites by the same amount.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls have reached the playoffs for the 4th time in the last 5 seasons after missing out last season but not many people are tipping them to be able to complete a shock win over Boston. They have a good young side though that might be able to make a series of this.
Chicago missed out on the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference when they lost on the last day of the regular season to leave them in 7th and a matchup with the Celtics. They finished the season with a 41-41 record and were 13-28 on the road. The Bulls won 9 pf their last 12 regular season games to make the playoffs.
Chicago have a very strong record against sides with winning records against the spread. They went 12-3-1 against sides with winning records over their last 16 games and are 4-1 against the spread versus sides with winning records on the road. They have also gone 6-2 against the spread when considered the underdogs.
Head to Head
Boston have a very strong record against Chicago in recent meetings, with the Bulls going 1-7 against the spread in their last 8 against Boston. The Bulls are also 0-4 against the spread on their last visits to Boston.
Prediction
Boston are expected to come through this matchup but the loss of Kevin Garnett is going to be key and this may allow Chicago to get to the basket with more ease and may make the series closer than expected.
Chicago have nothing to lose as their young squad gains more experience from these playoff matches. However, nothing to lose and being the complete underdogs make them a dangerous side.
I think this first game is going to be closer than people think and the spread is quite big, a spread that Boston will have struggled to cover in recent matches. Therefore I will take the Bulls to win against the spread here
The Pick :
Boston Celtics 97-90 Chicago Bulls
