The Bulls might be without Carruso and Drummond in this game, but without them, they have played well down the stretch. These teams have played four times this season and the Bulls have covered in three of four of those games as the underdog. They won one game out of four. This is a revenge game for the Bulls who lost in the play-in to Miami as the Heat dashed their playoff hopes. The Heat are without Rozier, but being without Butler too is a bigger blow to the confidence and culture of this team, though they do get their 3 point shooter back in Robinson. Butler was able to take an early lead against the 76’s only to lose the game in the end, and without him in this one, the Heat may do worse. Without those players, Miami’s offense will struggle greatly. Herro adds about 21 while Bam adds 19 which won’t be enough without Butler's 21 points on average, and his two way play on defense and his ability to create a lot of turnovers. That will sorely be missed in this game and it will be tough to keep pace with the Bull’s offense. Miami are 1-3 against the spread this season after a close loss by 3 points or less. In Chicago’s last three games, they have been explosive in their offense and have played well on the road, putting slightly more points up on the road than at home. They have the edge in defensive and offensive rebounding, and their block percentage is higher than the Heat, and they have some of the best guard defenders in the league. This may be too big of a hurdle to get over and this time Chicago turns the tables by winning. They will need players like DeRozan, Vucevic, Dosunmu and Coby White to step up and play their best game. White seems to be living up to this potential, scoring 42 points against Atlanta. They also have a healthier team and they are motivated for some payback. In last season’s play-in game, the Bulls only lost by 10 points, and White only put up 14 points in that game, while DeRozan put up 26. Also in that game, everyone had under 10 points except for Butler with 31 points and Max Struss who also had 31 points. Strus is gone to Cleveland and Butler is out, and they also don’t have Rozier or Richardson, so the Heat have big offensive shoes to fill as they will need a lot of offense from somewhere. This Bulls team is virtually the same as last season’s team, but they are playing much better right now as players step up on offense and defense. Miami will try to slow the game down by mucking it up, playing that physical rock fight defense as that will be the only thing they can do in this game, but the Bulls know what they will be up against and have players that can match them. The problem for the Heat in this game with that strategy is that they need to score and that was evident in their game against the 76s where they could not score enough to close out the game against the 76s. The Bulls are 5-1 against the spread this season after 4 straight games where they made 47% of their shots or better. Chicago have covered their last ten out of fourteen games against Miami, in Miami too so this series is competitive. Without Butler, this is the Bulls best chance to get the win over this team and close the gap.

Best bet: take the points with Chicago.