Game Time: 8:30 PM ET, Friday, April 22nd, 2022 

Venue:    United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Where to Watch: ESPN

DraftKings:  Spread: Bucks -2.5; O/U 223

Fanduel:  Spread:  Bucks -2.5; O/U 223

BetMGM:  Spread: Bucks -2.5; O/U 222.5

Bucks: 1-1, First Round Eastern Conference Playoffs

Bulls: 1-1, First Round Eastern Conference Playoffs

An NBA First Round Playoff matchup between Eastern Conference 3 Seed and an Eastern Conference 6th Seed.  OUCH!  The Bucks are supposed to be up by a country mile…. They are not. In fact the Bucks have gone 0-2 ATS in the series… so even in the win they cost you some cash.  A bigger looming problem is that Forward Khris Middleton sprained his MCL… Word in all the Books is that he will not play for 2-4 weeks… which means… HE WILL NOT PLAY. The shrinking point spread is meant to get you to bet on Giannis ( a good bet)... to win and cover a small spread.  Yet the Bulls have another idea.  The Bulls see a wounded deer coming to the court that they are dominant on… they see an MVP candidate in Giannis having to do most of the work… when the Bulls have their own MVP candidate that can spread it around.  Few believe this series has really turned around in the Bulls favor… but the first game at home!  With fresh news of the full time absence of Milwaukee’s #2 player!  The Bulls have a full puncher's chance now… the Bulls are at home… The Bulls could go up 2-1 in the series?

The Milwaukee Bucks are 1-1 in the first round playoff series, but 0-2 ATS.  They are a bad bet at the moment.  They were not a bad bet last season when they won the Championship.   They cruised early last season.  The offense for the Bucks is good… the defense is suspect.  This Bucks team finished this season 19th in defense this season while they finished much better last season when they won the Championship.  The problem is of course the diminishing returns the Bucks have gotten from Jrue Holiday.  Jrue is a fine NBA point guard and terribly over promised as a member of Milwaukee’s BIG THREE… only the numbers say that he is average on offense and below average on defense… no other Big THREE member anywhere in the league is ranked as poorly.   That leaves Giannis on his own… on an island,.. Trying to win games with some help from role players at best… and now he is missing one of those.

The Chicago Bulls are seeing stars!  The Bulls are 1-1 in their opening round playoff series against the Bucks and they have gone 2-0 ATS.  They get to go back home to the United Center where they have feasted all season. In the loss of this series, SF DeMar DeRozan had 18 points… in the win DeMar DeRozan had 41 points. Sf DeMar DeRozan is how this team goes.  I know the United Center crowd cheers for SG Zach LaVine, but he hasn’t been running the ship since last in the 2021 season.  Zach’s job now is to support DeMar with some scoring and some defense.  He doesn’t always live up to it… That is why SG Alex Caruso (off the bench) and C Nikola Vucevic are more important players to the team’s success. C Nikola Vicevic was good for 24 points in the win AND good for 24 points in the loss.  The position of Center in Chicago is handled… is it in Milwaukee?

Ben Burns is 8-3 the last 7 days in NBA action.  That is all Playoff basketball winning!  Team Del Genio is 6-1 in the last 7 days of NBA action.  That is also all Playoff basketball Winning!  You should be winning too! Get Ben Burns’ picks!  Get Team Del Genio’s picks!  Stay with us all throughout the NBA Playoffs and let’s grow that bankroll! You can discover the best  picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Milwaukee is 52-32 on the season, but 39-45 ATS.  They have logged 43 Oversm and 41 Unders.  They are 24-17 in road games.

Chicago is 47-37 on the season, but 44-39-1 ATS.  They have notched 40 Overs, 43 Unders, and 1 Push.  They are 27-14 in home games.

The Bucks are 3rd in scoring with 115.5 ppg, 2nd in rebounds with 46.7 per game, and 15th in AST/TO ratio with 1.8.  On defense they rank 19th while allowing 112.1 ppg from opponents.

The Bulls are 13th in scoring with 111.6 ppg, 28th in rebounds with 42.3 per game, and 10th in AST/To ratio with 1.9.  On defense they rank 16th while allowing  112.0 ppg from opponents.

Our prediction for Friday, April 22nd 1is….. Bulls 118 - Bucks 116

Take the Bulls and put the points in your pocket.  The Bucks are going to rely on Giannis heavily… Giannis will have a great game… but when equal defense square off the likely winner is the home team.  SF Patrick Williams is good for very little!.. But the size and length to guard Giannis is one of the very few.  He won’t stop Giannis, he will throw fits into Milwaukee’s game plan.  The Bulls win and you have a few points to ease your mind at the final buzzer. Take it… Take the $$.

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Chicago is 63-48 ATS versus Milwaukee since 1996.

Milwaukee is 5-1 ATS versus Chicago at Chicago the last 3 seasons.

9 of 13 games in this series have gone Under the ast 3 seasons.

Bucks: Khris Middleton (knee) Out ** PF Bobby Portis (eye) Quest ** PG George Hill (abs) Out -George Hill was at one time traded straight up for Kahwi Leonard on draft day… ha ha.

Bulls” PG Lonzo Ball (knee) Out 

Bucks: SF Grayson Allen, PF Giannis Antetokounmpo, C Brook Lopez, PG Jrue Holiday, SG Wesley Matthews

Bulls: SF DeMar DeRozan, PF Patrick Williams, C Nikola Vucevic, SG Alex Caruso, PG Zach LaVine

Bucks: Mike Budenholzer

Bulls Billy “please call me William” Donovan