Chicago — Cleveland
Until their recent home game against Utah (95-120), the Bulls had played very decent basketball over the previous five games, except for two consecutive fourth-quarter failures against the Spurs and Denver. The Bulls have moved up to 10th place in the East, which gives them at least some chance of making the playoffs.
Obviously, in each of the matches, and especially at home, the mood of "Chicago" will be the maximum, and here is a meeting with one of the teams that also hopes to rise to at least the 10th position. "Chicago" lost the last two home battles, so the motivation will also be decent in this regard, especially since all the leaders, including Zach Lavigne, are in the ranks and can shoot in any of the matches, and especially against a team that is potentially weaker.
In several of the recent games, Cleveland has had spikes, but stability has not been there, and it does not appear. The Cavalrymen have won two of their last eight battles. Those two victories came at home matches. On the road, the situation for the Cavs is not bright — 12 defeats in the last 14 games. Moreover, only Houston managed to win, which recently broke a series of 20 losses and sensationally laid out in the match with Philadelphia. Moreover, as part of a series of three away defeats, the Cavaliers did not score more than 98 points, and twice they did not even get to 90 points. With the attack in the team, there are often serious difficulties.
I prefer the victory of the bulls in the first quarter with a handicap (-1) for 1.84.
Yes, the Bulls are not in the top position for playing at home in the first 12 minutes. They are averaging 27.4 points and have won 11 first quarters in 24 games. However, the Cavs are just failing to play on the road, especially in the first 12 minutes of the game. Cleveland has 14 losses in 20 away games with an average difference of (-5.4) points, which is absolutely the worst record in the league.
Bid: 1st quarter - F1(-1) coef: 1.84