February 11, 2012

NBA Pick: Chicago Bulls @ Boston Celtics Preview

Two of the top dogs from the Eastern Conference start a triple header worth of NBA betting action on the ABC/ESPN family of networks when the Chicago Bulls face off with the Boston Celtics in Beantown.

With 23 wins already under their belts, the Bulls are clearly off and running this year towards the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They have already proven that they can win big time games like this one on the road, and they have even done so without the likes of Derrick Rose in the lineup, as amazing as that seems. Rose is dealing with back spasms right now, and he is listed as questionable for Sunday’s showdown. This is the final game of a whopping nine-game roadie for Chicago, a road trip which spans back to January 29th. After starting off at just 1-2 in the first three games of the trip, the Bulls have turned it on once again and rolled off five straight victories, four of which ended with covers. Arguably the best two performances of the bunch, a 95-64 win over the Charlotte Bobcats and a 90-67 win over the New Orleans Hornets, both of which came without Rose in the lineup, were the two most recent games that the team has played. However, Chicago has picked up four straight wins by at least 21 points.

The Celtics looked like they had turned a corner a few weeks ago and started back on the path towards the Eastern Conference playoffs. The team was beaten both on Thursday and Friday nights, dropping to the Los Angeles Lakers at home in overtime and then falling to the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre by a whopping 12 points. The inconsistencies of some of these players is just absurd right now. Ray Allen, a man who has, at times, proven that he can go off for 30+ points in a game, took just eight shots and scored just six points against the Raptors, while Rajon Rondo, one of the few who have logged a triple-double this season, shot just 2-of-10 from the field and had five points. Needless to say, when these two aren’t getting the job done, the task at hand becomes a lot harder for the likes of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, both of which are clearly up there in age and won’t be able to carry the team by themselves, especially with the condensed schedule.

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The Final Word: Chicago is just rolling right now, and we don’t see the consistency there to make it worthwhile to back the Celtics. It wouldn’t surprise us if Boston won this one, especially if Rose didn’t play, but the truth of the matter is that the Bulls are clearly the safer play, knowing just how well they are playing right now.

Chicago Bulls @ Boston Celtics Free Pick: Chicago Bulls

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Adam Markowitz

is a staff writer living in the Orlando area. He has covered NFL, MLB, college football, CFL, AFL, NBA, college basketball, NASCAR, golf, tennis, and the NHL for a number of various outlets in his career, and he has been published by a number of different media outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel and the Wall Street Journal.