Game Time: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, April 6th, 2022 

Venue:   United Center, Chicago, Illinois 

Where to Watch: NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  

Fanduel:  Spread:  NL

BetMGM:  Spread: NL
Opening Line:  Celtics -7

Celtics: 49-30, 2nd place Eastern Conference

Bulls: 45-33, 5th place Eastern Conference

An NBA Eastern Conference battle between the recently winningest team in the East and the formerly winningest team in the East.  Both these teams are heading for a playoff berth without the need for a play-in game (unless the Cavs go 3-0 and the Bulls go 0-3 over the next 3 games).  The Boston Celtics have been awe inspiring ever since New Year’s.  The Celtics started the season on a bumpy ride… they couldn’t sustain winning and the losses piled up… they fell all the way to the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings.  A horrible reality for a team that was expecting to contend… another horrible thing was that the Washington Wizards, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Chicago Bulls who had all been terrible the last several years… were now all above them!  The questions popped up… Would they trade Tatum or Brown?... It’s the same question all the time… The team has two great players and they are not winning… those players must be doing something to each other… or incompatible in some way.  Then the Celtics flipped a switch.  Since New Year’s day the three best teams in the league have been the Phoenix Suns, the Memphis Grizzlies (both in the West), and the Boston Celtics.  The Celtics churned out a 90% win rate and climbed the standings all the way to #2… with a vague chance at finishing in #1 if they win out and get a loss or two from the Miami Heat!  The Chicago Bulls started this season so wonderfully that they found themselves in 1st place in the East!  The Bulls… 1st place… The Bulls?.  Yup.  The addition  of Sf DeMar DeRozan during the offseason was a catalyst for instant improvement… DeMar had help of course form C Nikola Vucevic and SG Zach LaVine… and from two other great additions to the team PG Lonzo Ball and combo guard Alex Caruso.  The Bulls were rolling and winning along the way to DeMar DeRozan being considered as a dark horse MVP candidate.  Then the injury bug hit the team.  Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso, and Lonzo Ball all took a long turn on the injured list for a variety of maladies.  The winning petered off. The First place Chicago Bulls became the 2nd place Chicago Bulls… then the 3rd place Bulls, then the 4th place…. Until now they sit in 5th place at risk of falling to sixth before the final buzzer sounds on the 2021-22 regular season.  They need to flip a switch like the Celtics did to even survive the first round of the Playoffs… but if Lonzo Ball returns.. Maybe they could find that next gear… Not likely against the Celtics.  The great betting opportunity in this game will be entirely dependent on the point spread. 

The Boston Celtics have won 8 of their last ten games.  They went 7-3 ATS during that stretch.  The two teams they lost to were the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors… And they coincided with the loss of C Robert Williams III to a season ending knee injury.  That will seriously hamper the Celtics going forward. There is the story out there that Robert Williams could come back in mid May after having a quick surgery for his left knee meniscus tear… That of course is going to require that the Celtics win the first round playoff series without their starting Center.  Leading scorer jayson Tatum has seemed otherworldly this season 27 ppg, 8 rpg, and 4.4 apg… night in night out he brings fire… he gets help from SG Jaylen Brown who brings his own 23.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, and 3.4 apg.  Tatum and Brown are a legit Big Two… to last until Robert Williams III gets back, the Celtics will need 6’9 PF Daniel Theis to hold up as the starting Center.

The Chicago Bulls have won only 4 of their last ten games.  They went 4-6 ATS during that stretch.  Things got so bad that the Bulls actually lost to the New York Knicks!  Just sad really.  This losing stretch in the second half of the season is why SF DeMar DeRozan is no longer considered an MVP candidate. In the Bulls last game they lost to the Miami Heat 127-109 and they have the Milwaukee Bucks tonight… Then they will take on the Boston Celtics Wednesday Night… It is a nightmare stretch of the schedule at just the wrong time. Back to back to back… 3 teams that are all above them in the standings and three teams that are actively competing for the #1 spot.  If the Bulls steal one game of the next two they will be lucky.

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Boston is 49-30 on the season, but 42-36-1 ATS.  They have logged 38 Overs, 39 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 21-17 in road games.

The Bulls are 45-33 on the season, but 41-36-1 ATS.  They have notched 37 Overs, 40 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 27-11 in home games.

The Celtics are 13th in scoring with 111.2 ppg, 4th in rebounds with 46 per game, and 11th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8. On defense they rank FIRST while holding opponents to 104.3 ppg.

The Bulls are 11th in scoring with 111.7 ppg, 29th in rebounds with 42.4 per game, and 8th in AST/TO ratio with 1.9.  On defense they rank 16th while allowing 111.4 ppg.  The Bulls main problem is they allow almost just as many points as they score on average.  It’s hard to win the close ones in a scenario like that.

Our prediction for Wednesday, April 6th is…. Celtics 118 - Bulls 110

The Celtics have been winning at a great clip and they will be facing the Bulls in the Bulls third game in three nights.  The advantage was with the Celtics to start with, but when you add in the exhaustion… the Celtics should have it in the bag.

 

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Chicago is 55-46 ATS versus Boston since 1996.
31 of 48 games in this series in Chicago have gone Under since 1996.
Boston is 2-1 ATS versus Chicago in Chicago the last 3 seasons.

Celtics: SG Nick Stauskas (ankle) Quest ** C Robert Williams III (knee) Out

Bulls: PG Zach LaVine (knee) Prob ** SG Alex Caruso (back) Prob ** PG Lonzo Ball (knee) Out

Celtics: SF Jayson Tatum, PF Al Horford, C Daniel Theisl, SG Jaylen Brown, PG Marcus Smart

Bulls: SF Alex Caruso, PF DeMar DeRozan, C Nikola Vucevic, SG Zach LaVine, PG Ayo Dosunmu

Bulls: Billy Donovan

Celtics: Ime Udoka