Filip Tomic
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The #8 seed is on the line tonight in Miami as the Chicago Bulls come to town. Can the Heat bounce back from their poor performance against Atlanta? Or will the Bulls win their 4th straight against Miami? Tipoff is live at 7.30 pm ET on TNT, and I have prepared a Same Game Parlay to spice things up a bit.
We also have predictions for the OKC Thunder vs Minnesota Timberwolves play-in game on our NBA Predictions page, be sure to check those out.
Let’s dive into my SGP bet now!
DeMar DeRozan to score 25+ points (+135)
Tyler Herro Over 2.5 made threes (-160)
Nikola Vucevic to record 10+ rebounds (-195)
Parlay odds: +472
DeMar DeRozan to score 25+ points (+135)
DeRozan has been very consistent in games against Miami this season, scoring 37, 24 and 24 points. He shot the ball extremely well in those games at 64.7% from the field and 50% from 3, which is exceptional for a player that doesn’t rely all that much on the 3-ball. The 37-point explosion happened back in October in Miami, so Bulls fans will be hoping he can repeat that performance tonight in what is the biggest game of the season for Chicago. Since he arrived to the Windy City, DeRozan is averaging 26.2 points per game in 6 meetings with the Heat. Although he finished with a modest 23 points against his old team on Tuesday, he was still very effective from the field by going 10-for-19. For a player that finished the regular season averaging 24.5 ppg, we are getting really solid odds to score 25 points. Chicago relied heavily on LaVine in its win at Toronto on Tuesday. I think it’s time DeRozan did his part with a breakout game of his own.
Read our Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat predictions
Tyler Herro Over 2.5 made threes (-160)
37-year old Kyle Lowry carried the bulk of the offense in Miami’s loss to Atlanta with 33 points. With all due respect to him, at this stage of his career I find it hard to believe he will be able to pull off a similar performance tonight. The Heat will need everyone stepping up offensively to keep up with the Bulls, so I’m expecting big things from Tyler Herro. He finished with 26 points but went a modest 2-for-9 from deep against Atlanta. On the road this season the Bulls ranked just 13th in opponent 3-point percentage by allowing 36.1% of made shots, so they aren’t exactly elite at defending the perimeter. Herro has faced them 9 times in his career; during that stretch he’s averaging 3.1 threes made per game against them on 41.2% efficiency. Right now he’s on a run of 4 straight games of at least a trio of 3s made, knocking down 6, 4, 4 and 3. The Heat won’t go away easily; I expect Herro to come out firing with the season on the line.
Friday’s NBA Mega Parlay has +920 odds!
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Nikola Vucevic to record 10+ rebounds (-195)
Getting 10 rebounds from Vucevic has been almost automatic this season for the Bulls. In his last 8 games he has accomplished that feat a total of 6 times while averaging 10.1 boards a night. Miami got crushed on the boards against Atlanta 63 to 39, which is the main reason why it lost that game. That has been the Heat’s Achilles’ heel throughout the season and it’s hard to imagine all of their problems going away overnight. Miami finished the regular season ranking only 26th in rebounds per game, averaging just 48.5 which is comparable to teams like Portland and Dallas. If Clint Capela was able to grab 21 of them, including 8 on the offensive end, I see no reason why Vucevic won’t be able to get to double-digits on the glass.
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