Bulls get no love

[Raji]

Books show little love for desperate Bulls
Mon, May 14, 2007By Ashton Grewal

The Chicago Bulls may need the help of Aretha Franklin to get any respect from oddsmakers and sharps heading into Game 5 against the Detroit Pistons.

The books have the Bulls as 7-point underdogs for tonight’s tilt at the Palace of Auburn Hills after avoiding elimination Sunday.

The pointspread seems large considering the Bulls were only 5-point underdogs in both of the first two games in Detroit. However, an oddsmaker with BetCRIS.com says there had been sharp money on the Pistons and that he would love to see more action on Chicago's side.

“We’re not a bad team,” Bulls guard Ben Gordon says. “You can’t expect us to lose four straight games. (In Game 4), we did the things we normally do. We can win this series if we play a certain way.”

And they showed that by opening up a 21-point lead in the third quarter of Sunday's win. The problem was that they sat on that lead and allowed the Pistons to claw to within seven points late in the fourth.

“Even though the Bulls won Game 4, I feel that the oddsmaker considers them dead after the ugly Game 3 loss,” Covers Expert Scott Rickenbach says. “The way they blew a huge halftime lead and got drilled in the second half of Game 3 simply has a very negative impact on the psyche going forward.”

Especially when Chicago's up against an experienced, confident group like the Pistons.

“Sometimes you create such a cushion it’s easy to let your guard down,” Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups told the Chicago Tribune. “You get a 3-0 cushion and you say that team has to beat us four straight. It’s like we did. We’ve got to refocus.”

Teammate Rasheed Wallace seemed even less concerned.

“We wasn’t on the job today,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We’ve still got another game. Just try to close it out.

“We’re not concerned; we’re not concerned at all. Hats off to them. They won the game, and you have to respect them for that. So, we’re going to go and play harder on Tuesday.”

Game 5's total is set at 183 ½ points.

Raji