They old saying goes, "Mess with the bull, you get the horns." In this case, maybe if you mess with the Bucks, you get the horns as well.
The Chicago Bulls (53-34 SU, 42-45 ATS) are finding that out the hard way, as they have taken what should have been an insurmountable 3-0 series lead and turned it into a very precarious 3-2 edge heading into Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks (43-44 SU, 48-38-1 ATS).
GRINDING OUT THE TOUGH POINTS
The Bucks have no business playing in the paint with the Bulls. They just don't. Tom Thibodeau has made a career out of relying on Joakim Noah to protect the paint on the defensive end, while the rest of the bigs on the other end make things happen offensively.
However, in this series, even in the losses, the Bucks have been able to get the ball into the restricted area a ton against what is supposed to be one of the best defenses in the league to get relatively easy shots. In fact, only once in this series (Game 2) was Chicago able to even have more points in the paint than Milwaukee.
Since that point, the Bucks have outscored the Bulls by six, eight, 10 and four points in the paint, and they have hung in there on the offensive glass as well, an arena in which they should be getting their tails whipped in against a huge lineup.
Not surprisingly, those four games we are alluding to have all ended in close games, two of which have ended in upsets.
Of course, the oddsmakers have now seen the same things that you and I have both seen, but at +3, there hasn't been a lot of adjustment. That will be the case again in live betting as well. Perhaps the only main key of the game is if Milwaukee is holding its own in the paint. If so, live betting on the Bucks is absolutely mandatory for sharp bettors.
ASSISTING THEIR WAY TO VICTORY
Maybe it shouldn't be surprising that Jason Kidd, one of the best point guards the league has ever seen, has figured out how to get his team on the move by keeping good tabs on the basketball and making that extra pass.
The Bucks had 21 assists on the road on 36 made shots in Game 5 of this series. Sure, they turned it over 17 times, but a bigger, slower Chicago squad just wasn't able to keep up with the ball moving around the perimeter. Rotation was always slow, just as it was in Game 4, and the end result was a lot of relatively easy looks.
Just watching this team, you can visually see that there should be more shots falling. The looks are there for Milwaukee, yet it hasn't shot that well in any individual game against the Bulls. Some of that is playoff nerves for sure. Still, it's a good indication in live betting if the Bucks are getting some easier looks. The more open their guards end up being, the more you should be betting on them in live betting.
THORNY ROSE
Don't you just get the feeling that the Bulls might actually be better without Derrick Rose in the lineup right now? Rose has scored 27 points combined in his last two games, but he also has a total of 14 turnovers in that stretch.
Rose looks slow, he doesn't look like himself defensively, and if he is turning the ball over this much, he really needs to sit down because he's hurting the team. Granted, when Rose is right, there aren't many better point guards in the league, and maybe an extra day off will help out his cause. The last time he had two off days in a row in this series, he went off for 34 points and eight assists in Game 3. This could be a similar situation on Thursday night.
The NBA betting lines for this Thursday game were first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. The Bulls opened at -3, while the total debuted at 187.5. Live wagering during commercials offers adjusted moneylines, totals and spreads. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks will go down Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 7 p.m. ET at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. The matchup will be televised live on TNT.
