Bulls vs Heat Game 2 Betting Preview

The Chicago Bulls stunned the rusty Miami Heat in game one, but they might face another bigger challenge in game two, next Thursday at the American Airlines Arena, at 7 PM ET.

The Bulls played without Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich for the third straight game.  Nate Robinson took over in game one with 27 points and leading Chicago to close the match with a 10-0 run.

“I’ve played on some tough teams,” Robinson said. “But this one, there’s something a little different, something special about this group.”

“I think when you’re facing adversity, you have to be mentally tough,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But this is just one game. We have to play a lot better in our next one.”

The Miami Heat had almost an entire week to rest, and they seemed beyond rusty at some moments. “There are no excuses,” said Coach Eric Spoelstra. “We’re not making any excuses for time off or anything else.”

“I’m not stunned,”Lebron James explained. “This is what the playoffs is all about. We’re going against a really good team.”

Miami has lost three games in the last 44 they have played; two of those losses came against Chicago.

For game two, the NBA lines will have the Heat as favorites for over 10 points because they should bounce back, but it seems like the Bulls are a tough matchup because of their intensity and resilience.

“We’re not really a flashy team,” said Taj Gibson, who scored 12 points in game 1. “We like to go out and do our job.”