Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls- Betting Odds (Mar. 9)

Free NBA Pick: Miami Heat -5.0
Monday, March 9th 2009 7:35p - Click here for NBA Odds
Visit Touthouse.com for more NBA Betting Picks from Bob Harvey

The Heat look for their third straight win over the Bulls when the teams collide in South Beach tonight.

Chicago is 10-23 away from home, and its current four-game road skid includes lopsided losses at Washington and Charlotte. These are not good signs for a team that is struggling to make the playoffs.

The Bulls are currently in eighth place in the NBA playoff race but five other teams are scrambling for the final playoff spot in the east. To make matters worse, bruising forward Luol Deng is expected to be out several more days with what doctors feel is a stress fracture in his leg.

Meanwhile, Miami, thanks in large part to Dwayne Wade, has been one of the biggest surprises this season. The Heat are fifth in the Eastern Conference playoff race, stunning many of the pundits that had them out of the playoff chase this season.

Wade is the league’s leading scorer and has been virtually a one-man show for the Heat. He’s averaging 36.4 points and 10.8 assists in his last eight games, with four 40-point efforts over that span. Miami is 3-2 in its last five games but both of those losses have come against Cleveland.

Miami is 2-0 SU and 1-1 ATS vs. Chicago but both of those games were before the trade deadline.

These teams have played close but the Heat have the Bulls number.

D-Wade will be the headliner tonight but a nice undercard will feature Derrick Rose against Michael Beasley in a battle of the top picks from the 2008 draft.