posted April 9, 2008 at 16:27 in NBA Articles

It’s over for the sports betting bulls fans! The 2007-08 season for the Chicago Bulls officially came to an end last night when they fell to the Miami Heat for the first time in seven meetings. The lofty expectations Chicago had after reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals last season were all but erased a third into the season, but it has now become a reality and Chicago will miss the post-season for the first time in three years. Orlando’s had the Southeast Division wrapped up from the get go, but they officially clinched the #3 seed when they went into Cleveland and upended the Cavaliers by a 101-86 final count last Saturday.

The Bulls come into tonight’s meaningless match-up 18-20 SU and 17-21 ATS on the road. They snapped their six-game road losing streak at Cleveland back on the third, but followed it up with last night’s dud of a performance. The willingness to compete this season can best be summed up in a quote Ben Gordon had after the game. "They wanted it more and played a lot harder as a team," Gordon said. "A lot of their guys are playing just to stay in the NBA, so they definitely had a higher level of intensity than we showed." This has been Chicago’s mindset all season long, and the main reason why Scott Skiles was fired and GM John Paxson made a big trade at the deadline to get rid of some dead weight. Chicago fans are just as happy as the Bulls’ players are to see this nightmare of a season coming to an end.

Meanwhile, the Magic played second fiddle to both Boston and Detroit all season long, and continue to lie in the weeds looking to make a deep playoff run. They’ve won 23 of their 38 home games to date, and gone a $$$-making 21-13-4 ATS. They won’t be hospitable tonight considering they’ve lost their last two home games both SU and ATS to Western Conference foes.

This will be the third meeting of the season between these two clubs. Orlando won the previous two earlier in the season. They beat the Bulls in Chicago in overtime on New Years Eve by a 112-110 final count, but failed to cover the three-point spread. The second match-up saw them pound the Bulls at home by 14 easily covering the 6.5-point spread. Overall, both clubs have split their L/10 meetings SU, but the Bulls own a 6-4 ATS advantage.

Oddsmakers tagged the Magic 10-point home favorites with the ‘total’ set at 206.5 for this contest. You can get down on both the ‘side’ and ‘total’ for this match-up at BetUS.com right now! The Bulls are 1-5 ATS their L/6 against +.500 teams; while the Magic are 8-1-1 ATS their L/10 at home against sub .500 teams. This has been a high scoring series in Orlando with the over cashing in 7 of the L/9 meetings.

You’ll find the latest 2007-2008 NBA odds and lines in the best online sportsbook, BetUS.com. Betting on NBA player and game props makes every aspect of the game exciting. Join BetUS.com today to bet on the NBA and make online sports betting work for you!