Two Eastern Conference teams head into Rocket Arena tonight with vastly different motivations. Cleveland is locked in as the top seed and dealing with key absences, while Chicago is banged up and playing out the string. With a sky-high total set at 240, we’ve got our eyes on the Under as the best play on the board.
Chicago enters this one in 9th place in the East, sitting at 36-42 overall and 41-36-1 ATS. The Bulls have been a solid betting team, but the injury bug has bitten hard. Coby White (rest), Kevin Huerter (neck), and Lonzo Ball (wrist) are out, while Nikola Vucevic and Josh Giddey are questionable. That’s a big chunk of their core rotation either sitting or hobbled.
Cleveland, on the other hand, is cruising at 62-16 SU and 45-32-1 ATS. But they’ll be without Donovan Mitchell (ankle), who’s been a big scoring engine. The Cavs are in a spot where protecting health might outweigh chasing wins, and we could see a more methodical pace, especially late in the game.
Offensively, Chicago ranks 6th in scoring at 117.8 PPG but relies heavily on three-point volume and free throws. Cleveland holds teams to 112.3 PPG and is elite at limiting defensive rebounds (6th) and second-chance looks. With missing scorers on both sides and playoff seeding mostly settled, we don’t expect this to turn into a track meet.
Without Coby White’s dynamic scoring and Mitchell’s shot creation, expect more half-court sets and fewer transition buckets. Chicago’s offense takes a major hit without White and Huerter spacing the floor, while Cleveland will lean on Garland and Mobley but may also limit minutes in a low-stakes game.
The Bulls average just 19.8 free throw attempts per game (29th), and Cleveland plays disciplined D without fouling—ranking 9th in FTA allowed. That limits easy points and keeps the clock moving. With both teams trending Under in recent meetings (6 of last 10), the betting market may be slightly inflated here based on season averages.
