Monday's Top Action
May 4, 2015
CHICAGO BULLS (54-34) at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (57-29)
NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference - Semifinals
Tip-off: Monday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Sportsbook.ag Line: Cleveland -4.5, Total: 194
The Cavaliers and Bulls will meet at Quicken Loans Arena on Monday for Game 1 of what is a highly anticipated series. The Bulls head into this series after being pushed by a young Bucks team in the first round. Milwaukee took Chicago to Game 6, but the Bulls dominated them 120-66 as 4-point favorites in Milwaukee that game.
The Cavs, meanwhile, swept the Celtics in the first round and covered in three of those contests. Cleveland has not lost since Apr. 12 and will now have home court advantage against a Chicago group that it beat SU in three of the four meetings between the teams.
The key to this series for Chicago will be PF Pau Gasol. Gasol averaged 16.3 PPG, 11.8 RPG and 2.3 BPG in the opening round and now faces a Cavaliers team that is without PF Kevin Love (Shoulder) for the rest of the playoffs. He’ll need to use his size and craftiness to take advantage of a much smaller PF Tristan Thompson. If he can give the Bulls an edge at the power forward position then Chicago has a great chance of advancing.
For the Cavaliers, C Timofey Mozgov is a player to watch. He must avoid foul trouble against C Joakim Noah or the Bulls will get far too many second chances on offense and the Cavs won’t have enough size to bang with the Bulls inside. One trend that stands out for Game 1 is that the Bulls are 48-31 ATS when revenging a loss versus an opponent over the past two seasons. They’re also facing a Cavaliers team that is not only without Love, but also SG J.R. Smith due to a 2-game suspension.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (60-29) at HOUSTON ROCKETS (60-27)
NBA Playoffs
Western Conference - Semifinals
Tip-off: Monday, 9:35 p.m. ET
Sportsbook.ag Line: Houston -6.0, Total: 212
The Clippers travel to Houston on Monday for Game 1 of their series with the Rockets. Los Angeles enters this series after an emotional Game 7 victory over San Antonio on Saturday. The Clippers won that game 111-109 as 2.5-point favorites and showed some serious toughness, beating the defending champs despite being down 3-2.
The Rockets, meanwhile, beat the Mavericks 103-94 as 8-point favorites in Game 5 on Apr. 28. They will be well-rested heading into this series after dominating Dallas.
The Rockets and Clippers met four times this season and the teams split wins both straight up and against the spread. Los Angeles is, however, 8-3 straight up and 7-4 against the spread versus Houston over the past three seasons. PG Chris Paul is going to the most important player for the Clips in this series. He hurt his hamstring against the Spurs in Game 7 and Los Angeles will not win this series if he is not performing at a high level.
SG James Harden will need to play as well as he did during the regular season if the Rockets are going to win this series. The Clippers are weakest defensively at the shooting guard position and he should be able to find a way to dominate. One thing going in the Rockets’ favor is that they are 29-15 against the spread in home games this season. They are, however, beaten up with PF Donatas Motiejunas (Back) and PG Patrick Beverley (Wrist) out for the season.
May 4, 2015
CHICAGO BULLS (54-34) at CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (57-29)
NBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference - Semifinals
Tip-off: Monday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Sportsbook.ag Line: Cleveland -4.5, Total: 194
The Cavaliers and Bulls will meet at Quicken Loans Arena on Monday for Game 1 of what is a highly anticipated series. The Bulls head into this series after being pushed by a young Bucks team in the first round. Milwaukee took Chicago to Game 6, but the Bulls dominated them 120-66 as 4-point favorites in Milwaukee that game.
The Cavs, meanwhile, swept the Celtics in the first round and covered in three of those contests. Cleveland has not lost since Apr. 12 and will now have home court advantage against a Chicago group that it beat SU in three of the four meetings between the teams.
The key to this series for Chicago will be PF Pau Gasol. Gasol averaged 16.3 PPG, 11.8 RPG and 2.3 BPG in the opening round and now faces a Cavaliers team that is without PF Kevin Love (Shoulder) for the rest of the playoffs. He’ll need to use his size and craftiness to take advantage of a much smaller PF Tristan Thompson. If he can give the Bulls an edge at the power forward position then Chicago has a great chance of advancing.
For the Cavaliers, C Timofey Mozgov is a player to watch. He must avoid foul trouble against C Joakim Noah or the Bulls will get far too many second chances on offense and the Cavs won’t have enough size to bang with the Bulls inside. One trend that stands out for Game 1 is that the Bulls are 48-31 ATS when revenging a loss versus an opponent over the past two seasons. They’re also facing a Cavaliers team that is not only without Love, but also SG J.R. Smith due to a 2-game suspension.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (60-29) at HOUSTON ROCKETS (60-27)
NBA Playoffs
Western Conference - Semifinals
Tip-off: Monday, 9:35 p.m. ET
Sportsbook.ag Line: Houston -6.0, Total: 212
The Clippers travel to Houston on Monday for Game 1 of their series with the Rockets. Los Angeles enters this series after an emotional Game 7 victory over San Antonio on Saturday. The Clippers won that game 111-109 as 2.5-point favorites and showed some serious toughness, beating the defending champs despite being down 3-2.
The Rockets, meanwhile, beat the Mavericks 103-94 as 8-point favorites in Game 5 on Apr. 28. They will be well-rested heading into this series after dominating Dallas.
The Rockets and Clippers met four times this season and the teams split wins both straight up and against the spread. Los Angeles is, however, 8-3 straight up and 7-4 against the spread versus Houston over the past three seasons. PG Chris Paul is going to the most important player for the Clips in this series. He hurt his hamstring against the Spurs in Game 7 and Los Angeles will not win this series if he is not performing at a high level.
SG James Harden will need to play as well as he did during the regular season if the Rockets are going to win this series. The Clippers are weakest defensively at the shooting guard position and he should be able to find a way to dominate. One thing going in the Rockets’ favor is that they are 29-15 against the spread in home games this season. They are, however, beaten up with PF Donatas Motiejunas (Back) and PG Patrick Beverley (Wrist) out for the season.