Celtics Try To Rebound Against Bulls

Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics were upset by the Chicago Bulls in the first game of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series on Sunday. Set as 7-point favorites for Game 2, the Celtics will be looking to even up the series when the teams square off again on

Boston are pegged as a 7-point home favorite for Game 2 of the series on Tuesday, but lost by a score of 106-102 to Chicago in  a Game 1 that was a slim OVER result for totals

Thomas, whose sister died in a car accident on Saturday, still played in the series opener on Sunday and led the Celtics with 33 points, five rebounds, and six assists in the losing cause. Thomas is also expected to be in Boston’s lineup in Game 2 of the series on Tuesday

Al Horford added 19 points and seven boards for Boston in Game 1, while Avery Bradley was good for 14 points. Jimmy Butler poured in a team-high 30 points and had nine rebounds in the victory for the Bulls, while Bobby Portis had 19 points, and Robin Lopez added 14

The Celtics are the top seed in the Eastern Conference side of the playoff bracket, finishing the regular season 53-29 and two games up on both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors in the standings. The Bulls, meanwhile, needed a tiebreaker to get into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the East standings, posting an identical 41-41 mark as the Miami Heat.

Bulls Have Been Profitable Wager

Still, Chicago ended the regular season on a 7-3 SU run, and has now covered the spread in five of its past seven games. And the Bulls have been a profitable wager this season when listed as an underdog on the NBA odds, going 28-18 ATS as a dog during the regular

The Celtics, meanwhile, had a three-game SU winning streak snapped with their Game 1 loss to the Bulls, having posted victories over Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee to end the regular season and lock up the No. 1 seed in the conference. Boston has been a weak wager of late, though, picking up just three ATS victories in their last 11 games dating back to late March. The Celtics were also under .500 at 30-32 ATS as the favored team on the

Tipoff for Game 2 on Tuesday night is set for 8:00pm ET, with Boston now just 4-6 SU and 5-5 ATS in its last 10 games against Chicago dating back to January 2015. And Game 1’s OVER result bucked a betting trend for contests between these two teams, as the UNDER had come out on top in each of the four meetings between the Celtics and Bulls in the regular season.