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Carrie Stroup here with your 2012 NBA Playoffs betting odds for the 76ers vs. Bulls Game 1. You can receive up to $250 in FREE CASH when you open an online betting account here today at Sportsbook.com. Tell them Carrie sent you.
Sportsbook.com Game 1 Line & Total: Chicago -8.5 & 175.5
Series Line: Bulls -1400/Sixers +900
The Bulls probably would have rather not seen the 76ers in Round 1, but that’s the hand they were dealt when they start their title quest on Saturday afternoon.
Philly plays a similar slow-it-down, defense-first style that should keep every game interesting. In three matchups this year, neither team hit 100 points. But the Sixers also lack a creator, a closer and the three-point shooting to pull off an upset, which will do them in for a second straight season. Chicago got to rest Derrick Rose for Thursday’s season finale and should have him close to 100% for a matchup with a team he picked apart twice this season.
The three-point shot is a weapon that can lead to the upset, but it’s not a weapon the Sixers have. They were 24th in the NBA in three-pointers made, and none of their top shooters (Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala and Jodie Meeks) shoot it well enough to make contested, high-pressure threes with any consistency. In fact, they’ll struggle to generate any offense against Chicago’s elite team defense. A year ago, the Sixers averaged just 86.6 PPG on 41.4% FG in their five-game first-round series loss to Miami.
The Bulls adjusted to life without Rose late in the season, but he played in two of their final three games. He also averaged 26.5 PPG on 50.0% FG and 7.0 APG in two games against the Sixers this year. Chicago was upset in Philly back on Feb. 1, but the Bulls were without their best perimeter defender, Luol Deng, in that game. It’s a big reason why Iguodala went for 19 points on 8-for-13 FG that night. With Deng in the lineup, the Sixers averaged just 85.5 PPG and 40.3% FG in their next two games against Chicago, both Bulls wins. Igoudala went for 10.5 PPG on 36.0% FG in those losses. And the last time the teams met, the Bulls beat them without Rose, 89-80 in Chicago.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
