NBA - 717 Chicago Bulls @ 718 Brooklyn Nets
Projected Line: Brooklyn by 8 points
Brooklyn crushed Chicago in the first game of the series and even though I had taken them on the spread, even I didn't expect them to win that game so easily. I mentioned two key factors that favored the Nets on this matchup and both were very evident on Game 1 and will continue being evident throughout the series: Deron Williams and Brook Lopez! Offensively, Deron Williams just crushed Kirk Hinrich on this individual matchup. When coach Thibodeau put Nate Robinson on the floor, Thibodeau quickly had to remove him from the game, as Deron would just attack him down low time and time again for some easy layups. Then, Thibodeau switched and put Jimmy Butler defending Deron and so, instead of attacking the basket, he would pass the ball to Gerald Wallace on the block who was being guarded by... Kick Hinrich!
Brook Lopez also dominated the Game 1 of this series. Joakim Noah is a warrior, but he is super limited right now. Nazr Mohammed is no match for Brook Lopez, while Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson are undersized to guard Lopez. When the Bulls played small ball with Luol Deng at the PF position, they improved on offense, but they kept getting destroyed on defense. Thibodeau has the tough decision of choosing between sacrificing defense or offense, but in both cases the Nets will still have the edge. One good way to limit the Nets is to make Deron Williams and Brook Lopez work hard on defense, but even on this area the Nets are fine on this matchup, as Chicago doesn't have offensive weapons on these two particular positions, as Derrick Rose is still out, while Joakim Noah is literally playing on one foot right now.
For tonight's game, I expect Chicago to play with more intensity and defend a little better down low, as Brooklyn had 20-24 FG at the rim and 8-12 FG from 3-9 feet on Game 1, but it won't be still enough because the position edge that Brooklyn has in Brook Lopez on this matchup is huge, while their remaining players are very confident right now, including Gerald Wallace who has regained his self-trust. On the other side, Carlos Boozer had a huge game in the first contest of this series, as he was on fire on his mid-range jumpers with 2-3 FG from 3-9 feet, 2-2 FG from 10-15 feet and even 3-4 FG from 16-23 feet. He is currently the only reliable offensive player of the Bulls, but he was still incredibly efficient on Game 1. Chicago has been struggling the whole season on their outside shooting, as they don't have a lot of good shooters on their roster. They need to get offensive rebounds and attack the basket to be remotely efficient on the offensive end, but Brooklyn's inside size is a bad matchup for them. Therefore, I expect another easy win for the Nets in here and so, I'll be taking them once again tonight.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 718 Brooklyn Nets (-4,5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
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