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Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls Game 2 NBA Preview & Free Pick

Heat vs Bulls NBA Handicapping

You can survive injuries to key players in the short-term in this man’s NBA, but as the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have learned, eventually you have to pay the bill.

Eastern Conference
Miami Heat (0-1) at Chicago Bulls (1-1)
Friday, May 10
United Center, Chicago
8 p.m. EST
Spread – Heat -7.5 At Bovada
O/U – 187

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The Bulls may be learning this lesson as they take the court tonight in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Heat. Neither Luol Deng (illness) nor Kirk Hinrich (injury) figures to be in uniform, and no one is even allowed to talk about a miraculous Willis-Reid-type appearance by a still-rehabbing former MVP point guard whose name cannot be mentioned at the United Center.

After catching the Heat off guard in Game 1, the depleted Bulls took a Game 2 beatdown that many fans figured was coming, and now things are at 1-1 as the series shifts to Chicago. No doubt the Bulls would gladly accept a split and take their chances in what would then amount to an anything-can-happen best-of-three set, but Miami certainly feels it can take advantage of the Bulls’ injury issues and grab the series by the you-know-what.

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Bodies flew in Game 2, with Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson ejected as the Bulls moved heaven and Earth to make this series into a taffy pull. The result was 50 fouls and 61 free throws, with 9 technical fouls thrown in for good measure.

LeBron James says that the NBA will make sure that the refs call a tight game tonight in order to restore some sort of order before things get completely out of hand. [ad-6571516]

“I understand the refs are going to try to control the game as much as possible, so you have to adjust to it,” James said. “We know definitely this game is going to be physical and we look forward to it. It’s a rivalry with this (Bulls) team. They don’t like us. We don’t like them. That’s how it is.”

Indeed, while the Heat are a perimeter team that like to force turnovers leading to easy hoops, Miami actually won Game 2 with a rare dominating night in the paint. The Heat outrebounded Chicago by a whopping 41-28 margin, which led to an equally absurd 56-18 advantage in scoring in the paint. The Bulls know that that nonsense has to end in a hurry or the Heat are going to head back to Florida with a 3-1 edge and a chance to make this a quick series.

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Miami has a little extra motivation because the Heat will be playing their first game in Chicago since their 27-game winning streak was put to rest at the United Center on March 27. Hard to say how much of a factor that will be, in any. What’s more important is how the Bulls react to losing a playoff game by 35 points.

Liking Miami to cover again in this one as Chicago’s margin for error is too tiny. Too many Bulls have to overachieve just to keep it close.

By Lawrence Paul

Lawrence Paul is back in the saddle as a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog. He's got an AMAZING knack for predicting when a team will have a letdown! Stick with our resident gambling experts sports betting tips all season long!