The Chicago Bulls begin the 2011 NBA Playoffs season today as the top-seed in the Eastern Conference and will host the 8-seed Indiana Pacers for Game-1 of this best-of-seven games series at the United Center in Chicago (1 pm Eastern). The Bulls are listed on the offshore NBA Playoffs Odds board as -3500 favorites to win the series over the Pacers.
Most offshore sports shops list the Bulls as 11 ½-to-12 chalk favorites for Game-1, but so far have stayed away from posting moneyline NBA Predictions. Oddsmakers opened totals betting by posting the over/under mark at 188.
It’s surprising to see the Bulls as No. 1 seeds in the 2011 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs after posting the conferences best record in the regular season. After all, if you remember back to the 2010 off-season, it was the Bulls who were big players in the LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh sweepstakes before losing out to Miami. So beginning today, it will be fun to do a little wagering on how the Bulls perform now that the playoffs bell has rung.
It's no mystery why the Bulls are such heavy home favorites. They went 36-5 at home in United Center this past regular season and were pretty good covering the betting spread going 26-16. OVER bettors did pretty good too on Bulls games this season cashing in 50-of-82 games. Now that the playoffs are starting, it will be more difficult for the Pacers to win on the with the increased United Center intensity.
Making NBA Predictions for this game is easy. No contest here, Bulls win big and cover -11 1/2.
