Derrick Rose Key in Hawks at Bulls Betting
In today’s NBA, a rose by any other name does not smell as sweet. The doubt over Derrick Rose’s ability to start in tonight’s game between the Hawks and Bulls means that the NBA basketball odds for this game will not be posted until oddsmakers know what’s going on with the League MVP.
Rose has missed five straight games since his back started troubling him, and the Bulls had done alright in his absence. They won four straight until getting pasted by the Nets at the United Center on Saturday. The Nets are one of the worst teams in the League and were 12.5 point underdogs in that game, so to say the loss was a shock is to understate the case.
Was it just one of those things that happen or is it evidence that the Bulls are beginning to show the strain of having to operate without the straw that stirs the drink?
Tonight’s visitors to Chicago, Atlanta, are one of the tougher teams in the League to handicap. Atlanta has got to the playoffs for the past four years, but can’t get past the Eastern semi-finals. And there’s a perception growing that the reason for that is that while Atlanta can hold its own against the League’s small fry like Charlotte or Washington or Sacramento, once the pressure comes on the Hawks don’t want to know.
And that’s not quite fair to the Hawks. Atlanta beat Orlando in overtime ten days ago and has wins over Miami and Chicago to show for the year. Are the Hawks better than people expect?
Elsewhere, the NBA offers a full course of excellent online sports betting fare, just like every night. In New York, the Linsanity has returned to epic levels. Jeremy Lin looked mortal when he turned the rock over nine times in a loss to New Orleans on Friday, only to prove that the phenom is here to stay with an epic performance against Dallas that just left people sitting back and saying: wow.
The Nets are – naturally – a big underdog on the other side of the Jersey shore tonight, and followed up an impressive win at Chicago with a less impressive home loss against Milwaukee.
Also tonight, the Celtics are road dogs at Dallas where the Mavericks hope to put that battering in Madison Square Garden behind them. Right now, if there’s a team in the League that you need to play to cheer yourself up, it’s the Boston Celtics. Boston has dropped three straight, including a very bad loss last night in Detroit, where Boston lost as a five point road favorite. It could be bad times in Big D for the Celtics tonight.
