Tonight, the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls match up for a battle of likely Eastern Conference playoff teams. Both squads have been struggling as of late, and injuries -- for Miami in particular -- have played a factor. For these two teams' first matchup of 2016, read on to see the live stream link, betting line, injury report, a preview and prediction.
Game Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Channel: CSN-Chicago or FOX Sports Sun
Live Stream: NBA League Pass ($6.99 for individual game)
Free Live Stream: Stream2U
Betting Line: -7 CHI; 190.5 O/U
Bulls Injury Report: E'Twaun Moore (Out - Hamstring); Kirk Hinrich (Out - Quad); Mike Dunleavy Jr. (Out - Expected to resume contact work Tuesday)
Heat Injury Report: Hassan Whiteside (Out - Oblique); Josh McRoberts (Doubtful - Knee); Goran Dragic (Out - Calf); Luol Deng (Questionable - Eye); Gerald Green (Questionable - Knee); Beno Udrih (Probably - Neck)
As you can see above, the Heat have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks, and will be shorthanded tonight as well. They're 2-8 in their last 10, and it's not hard to imagine why. Missing Whiteside for many of the past games has been difficult, and their small forward play has been spotty with Deng and Green trying to fight through issues.
Even though this is an important road game for them, they may try to just get as many guys healthy and rest anyone who is on the border for tonight's game.
That's good news for the Bulls, though. They've been having their own struggles lately, and have actually found games against more middle-of-the-pack squads to be quite troublesome.
After a dominant win over the East-leading Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday, the Bulls improved to 11-4 against the top five teams in each conference so far this season. While that's an excellent record, that means they're just 14-14 against the rest of the league. That kind of inconsistency has led to many fans pulling their hairs out so far this season, wondering why this team can't bring it every night.
While the concern is warranted, perhaps it's better just to look at the season as a marathon and not a race, as cliche as that sounds.
That said, the Bulls should have their way at home tonight against a beat-up Miami team. Expect them to score with ease in the paint thanks to Whiteside's absense, and look for Derrick Rose to continue being aggressive despite his inefficiency against the Cavs.
Prediction: Bulls 98, Heat 87
