Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/28/2022

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Venue: FTX Arena, Miami, FL

Where to watch: Bally Sports Sun, NBC Sports Chicago

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Bulls: 39-22

Heat: 40-21

Nothing like a good old fashioned battle between two of the eastern conferences best teams to get your Monday going. At least that's what I always say. If it were anything else, it would probably would be a dull boring time. But I do think we are getting spoiled here with a battle between the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat especially with both teams coming off hard fought games over the weekend.

Let's start with the road team because they were in the news a little bit more than Miami at this point because of what happened over the weekend. The bulls, at home took on the Memphis Grizzlies in what turned out to be a very entertaining game. But the biggest story of the night from this game was that Ja Morant scored a career high 46 points in Memphis’ 116-110 victory over Chicago on Saturday night.

It wasn't even just the fact that it was a 46 point effort. The star point guard made it look easy. He shot 15 of 28 from the field and made 13 of 15 from the free throw line in what was an otherwise ridiculous effort. Hell, only three other players scored in double figures for Memphis. It was literally the Ja Morant Show.

DeMar DeRozan put up 31 points but took 10 of 29 shots to get there in what was a rare off night for Chicago's MVP candidate. Zach LaVine also had 28 points and six assists to go with four rebounds, but the bulls ultimately shot 41.9% from the floor and missed seven free throws, leaving the door wide open for Memphis to eventually pull out this victory.

Chicago depth is still being tested a great deal knowing that lonzo ball and Alex Caruso are both still out with injuries, and who knows exactly when they'll even be back to show that their presence is very much needed? But the bulls did close strong with a six game winning streak heading into Saturday's matchup, and now the schedule is not going to be any easier over the next month for the bulls. They are only playing four home games for the entire month of March.

Couple that with 12 road games, and this is going to be a gauntlet unlike anything we've ever seen from Chicago. Not to mention, there are three back to backs stacked in here and two of them are starting with a home game and ultimately ending in a road game. This is going to be a ridiculous test to see where Chicago stacks in the Eastern Conference.

And the bulls right now are looking upward at the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference with Miami a game ahead of Chicago for first place in the conference. Miami comes into this matchup on a three game winning streak after defeating the San Antonio Spurs 133-129 on Saturday.

Bam Adebayo finished with 36 points and seven rebounds in the young big man’s arguably greatest game since becoming a pro. He shot 14 of 21 from the floor and eight of 12 from the free throw line while adding three blocks to his game. Miami only suited up nine guys and despite getting outrebounded 46- 32, Miami still shot 57% from the floor to offset San Antonio’s scorching shooting night as well.

Tyler Herro had 27 points and is averaging 26 points since returning to the lineup after missing an extended period of time with injury. Jimmy Butler also chipped in with a casual 27 points on 7 of 11 shooting, which is rather efficient.

Miami is just one of those teams that never seems to go away. No matter how injured the heat are or how banged up they are, they always seem to find a way to win under head coach Erik Spoelstra and continue to do so in rather impressive fashion. This has all the makings of a potential Eastern Conference final preview and with about 20 games to go I have no doubt that these teams are going to put on a show no matter who is available or not.

Given the fact that this game is in Miami and I think the loss of Chicago's guards makes it a little bit easier for Miami’s perimeter players to attack, I'm going to go with Miami but this will be a fairly close game for the most part. I think ultimately Chicago will pull closer and attempt to steal this one on the road, but this has all the makings of a game where Kyle Lowry will get the better of his best friend from Toronto. We haven't seen it often, but I can only imagine how these two will bring out the best of each other considering how great a friends they are. And I have no doubt this is going to be an entertaining game. Heat by 7

The Bulls are 49-26 ATS following a non-conference game.

The Bulls are 51-42 ATS after failing to cover the last game.

The over is 21-8 when the Heat win five or six of their last seven.

PG: Ayo Dosunmu

SG: Zach LaVine

SF: Javonte Green

PF: DeMar DeRozan

C: Nikola Vucevic

PG: Kyle Lowry

SG: Duncan Robinson

SF: Jimmy Butler

PF: P.J. Tucker

C: Bam Adebayo

Points: DeMar DeRozan -- 28.1

Rebounds: Nikola Vucevic -- 11.7

Assists: DeMar DeRozan -- 5.1

Points: Jimmy Butler -- 21.7

Rebounds: Bam Adebayo -- 10.1

Assists: Kyle Lowry -- 8.1