Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
After clinching a spot in the Eastern Conference finals, Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose was asked about sweeping the Miami Heat in the regular-season series.
“The regular season is over with,” he said. “The way that they play right now is totally different.”
Las Vegas agrees.
The No. 2 seed Heat, who just finished a 4-1 series over the defending Eastern Conference championBoston Celtics, are favored, almost 2-to-1, to beat the No. 1 Bulls in the best-of-seven series that starts at 7 p.m. CT Sunday at United Center.
Although it looked rough at times, the Bulls really had few problems closing out their first two series, going 8-3 against Indiana and Atlanta, but Miami’s dynamic duo of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade looks formidable right now.
The Las Vegas Hilton has priced the Heat at -190, while the MGM Race and Sports and Book has them at -185. The Hilton has the Bulls at +170 to win the series.
Both books have the Bulls favored to win the opener by 1½ points.
The Heat are 5-6 at the MGM, and 5-4 at the Hilton, to win the NBA championship. The Bulls are 2-1 and 5-2, respectively.
Jon Greenberg is a columnist for ESPNChicago.com and ESPN 1000.
