Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Chicago Bulls Series Odds: Cleveland -2500 (Chicago +1400)

The Cavaliers wants to make amends for not getting to the finals last year and they know that their window for having King James bring them a title is starting to close. Cleveland made some solid moves that have clearly made them the best team in the league. And the addition of Antwan Jamison was expressly done for this time of year. Time for ‘Twan to earn his money.

The Bulls got some significant playoff experience in their series versus the Celtics last season and it should help their cause this time around. And they have really been playing hard and with purpose over the last two weeks, despite some off-court distractions from the higher ups in the organization. (John Paxon and Vinny Del Negro are getting into shoving matches over a players court time? Nice.)

Why the Cleveland Cavaliers will win the series: The Cavs are the better team, plain and simple. The only other Eastern Conference team that could give them problems is the Orlando Magic. (Sorry Celtics fans.) The Bulls are known to have a lack of focus offensively at times and when playing against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA that is not a good thing. One significant stat that benefits the Cavs is the fact that the Bulls are ranked 23 rd in shooting percentage, which means there will be a lot of rebounds. Cleveland is ranked third in the league in defensive rebounding. Sorry Chicago, but if you miss, you won’t be getting another chance.

Player to watch for Cleveland: Mo Williams. If LeBron’s offensive sidekick plays well this series could be over in four games.

Why the Chicago Bulls will win the series: The Bulls seem to have a swagger about them when they play teams that are better than they are. And they managed to split this season with the Cavs and have actually won five of 10 dating back to 2008. I guess it is just a Chicago thing. Even though they know the Cavs are better, they will play hard each and every point. As I sit here and type this out, I can’t come up with any other reasons that Chicago will win this series. They were 12-26 versus playoff teams this season. I should change the title of this section to why the Bulls will win a game.

Player to watch for Chicago: Luol Deng. Derrick Rose gets all of the love, but Deng is an excellent sidekick. He is the team’s second leading scorer and second leading rebounder and he absolutely has to step up and hit big shots.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Chicago Bulls Series Prediction: Cleveland in four.

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