I have gone 10-5 with my picks for Pickswise in these articles so far, so let’s try to build on that with 3 picks for Friday’s NBA play-in games.
Today, I like totals plays in both games on the slate and I also have a spread pick for the Bulls vs Heat game. Let's get into the reasoning behind those picks.
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Bulls +5.5 over Heat' (-108)
The Bulls face the Heat in Miami for the right to call themselves the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Chicago defeated the Raptors, while the Heat were beaten by the Hawks to arrive in this game. It feels like the Bulls have the momentum and they swept the regular-season series between the teams. They also covered in all 3 meetings and were underdogs each time. The Bulls are the better shooting team and the better offensive team.
I'm still not quite sure why Miami is this much of a favorite. In the first meeting in October, the Heat were a 7.5-point favorite as the defending top seed in the Eastern Conference from last year's playoffs. In the other meetings, in December and March, the Heat were 1.5-point favorites at home and 2.5-point favorites in Chicago. The Heat are the worst spread team in the NBA and there's no reason to trust their offense to lay this many points. Bulls plus the points.
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