It would be an understatement to say the Chicago Bulls are in dire straits as far as the Eastern Conference playoffs are concerned. Down three games to none, Chicago finds itself in a predicament. No team has ever overcome a three-game deficit by winning four straight to take a best of seven series in the NBA Playoffs. In what looked to be a probable win Friday night, turned into a nightmare when the Detroit Pistons , down by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, stormed back to win game-three 81-74 in Chicago’s United Center. Today, Bulls players can cash in their chips or try to prevent the Pistons from enjoying a four-game series sweep.
“They’re going to have a sense of urgency,” Pistons coach Flip Saunders said after Saturday’s light practice before the team returned to the Windy City for what they hope will be a close-out game. “No team wants to get swept, especially at home. They’ll come out the way they did in Game-Three with a lot of energy. We just have to keep our course and we’ll be OK.”
It bears watching how much resolve the Bulls will have after getting kicked in the teeth just when it looked as if they had worked their way back into the series, taking a 19-point lead early in Game-Three’s second half before giving all but one point of it away before the third quarter ended and losing by seven.
Having a three-game series lead, oddsmakers at most offshore sportsbooks expect the Pistons to take care of business and have them installed as a -3.0-point favorite on the spread with the cost of a money line bet at -155 while Bulls backers are getting +130 ml juice. The total is currently holding at 182.
In early betting action, 85 percent of the early money on side betting is on Detroit while only 64 percent favor the Pistons on the money line. The total (182) is expected to go OVER by 80 percent of wagers.
