Chicago Bulls vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 Odds Preview, Matchup Stats

After trading buzzer-beating shots in the past two games, the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be back at Quicken Loans Arena Tuesday for Game 5 of their best-of-seven NBA second-round playoff series tied at 2-2.

The Cavaliers are consensus five-point home favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com for Game 5 after taking Game 4 by an 86-84 score Sunday but failing to cover the spread as three-point road chalk on a game-winning two-point jumper from the corner by LeBron James as time expired.

James was close to duplicating Chicago point guard Derrick Rose’s game-winning three-pointer from Game 3 that would have at least gotten a push for Cleveland backers after the team blew a seven-point lead in the last four minutes of the game.

Regardless, the Cavaliers earned a tough win that tied the series and will get an opportunity to move one step closer to the Eastern Conference Finals with a home victory Tuesday night.

Rose had banked in a game-winning three-pointer to beat Cleveland 99-96 and cover the 2.5-point spread on the NBA betting lines Friday. He scored a game-high 31 points in Game 4 but did not get much help from his teammates with power forward Pau Gasol sidelined due to a hamstring injury.

Gasol’s status for Game 5 is unclear, and shooting guard Jimmy Butler was the only other Bulls player to score in double figures, with 19 points. Taj Gibson replaced Gasol in the starting lineup and finished with six points and eight rebounds.

The Cavs are also dealing with a key injury to point guard Kyrie Irving, who has struggled with his shooting lately due to a sore foot. Irving has made just five of 23 shots from the field (22 percent) over the last two games, totaling 23 points and two assists combined after scoring 51 points with nine assists in the first two games of the series.

Cleveland is the only team to break the century mark in scoring through the first four games and got its lone cover of the series as a 5.5-point favorite with a 106-91 rout back in Game 3. Chicago scored 99 points in each of its two wins, and the Game 5 total of 191 for the Bulls vs. Cavaliers betting matchup is the lowest so far following the lowest-scoring game of the series.