Chicago at Boston

The Celtics started the season excited, full of energy, and playing hard for 48 minites every night. They realized, once they established they were a very good team that was going deep in the playoffs, the mission changed. They play to win games now, put teams away, and move on to the next game. Prior to the first of this year, the Celtics won 16 of the 29 games they played by 12 or more points (55%). Since then, they have won just four of the 30 they have played by that margin (13.3%)! That early-season performance has led to them being tremendously over-valued. It's the reason they are just 1-8 ATS when favored by double-digits since January 1. It has been a lost season for the Bulls but they have now won back-to-back games for just the fourth time all season, and are in their best stretch of the season, going 11-5 ATS in their last 16. The Celtics are coming off a huge win over the Pistons, and the last time they beat the Pistons, they lost at home to Charlotte. After clinching a playoff birth, expect a less than full performance from the Celtics, and with the Bulls playing as good as they have all year, we expect them to hang in this one. We also like it to be a very low-scoring game. In their last five games, the Bulls have held opponets to just 44 ppg on 42.1% shooting in the first half. Over that span, Boston has held foes to 40.6 per game on 38.9% shooting. The Bulls are 11-3 UNDER in the first half revenging a road loss this season while Boston is 16-3 UNDER to a total of 95.5 to 100.5. Chicago and the first-half UNDER here.