The going always gets tougher when on a road that hasn't been travelled before

Hawks +3.5 (-110) to win 5 units

I decided to play this today and go with my lean on tha Hawks.

"We believe deep in our hearts that we can beat this ballclub," Smith said. "We just have to do it for the full 48 minutes. We can't come in thinking it's going to be given to us. We've got to go out there and take it. I know if we're able to take care of Game 6, it would put us in good position to win this series. We believe deep down inside that we can win Game 7 if we take care of business in Game 6. We've won up there before. It's not like it's a tough task to do."

The Bulls are a great squad.  However, this is their first run as a favourite to win the title and they are feeling the pressure.  They are good at home but the road has been a different story for these cats, very similar to the 2008 Celtics.  The Bulls couldn’t close out the Pacers in Game 4 in the 1^st Round.  In Game 3, Rose went off on the Hawks but the Hawks just had a horrible game and made up for it in Game 4 with a nice win against the Bulls.  Yes the Bulls stepped up tremendously in the 4^th quarter to win against the Hawks, but the fact of the matter is that the Hawks were only down 2 points heading into the 4^th quarter.  This is a confident Hawks team that knows they can play with the Bulls.  Teague is playing fantastic, Josh Smith is doing the “belt” and getting in Boozer’s face after a big dunk some things he wouldn’t do if they didn’t think they could win.  The Hawks have gained some swagger since Zaza Pachulia stepped up against Dwight Howard.  It is very difficult to end a series on the road, and this veteran Hawks team is gonna bring it tonight.  In Game 5 on the road they did well on the boards only getting outrebounded by 4.  The Hawks also shot a solid 48% from the field and a horrific 1/12 from 3-point land.  The Hawks will shoot better at home from 3 tonight.  They also kept the Bulls in check from 3 and the fact that they were able to take a big punch from the Bulls in Chicago in a huge game 5 and stay close gives me reason to believe that they can win tonight and use their experience and use of the home fans to get it done.  I think the Bulls win this series but not tonight.

GL

NBA Playoffs-to-date: 20-10-3 (+61.28 units)

gl tonight

Bingo we got a winner !!!   Exactly, pro atheletes are the worst predictors of their own games.

Of coarse all teams believe they can win Smith saying it  means nothing, the Bulls players know they can close it out tonight as well.

Do you think Bulls player don't feel the same way that they can win tonight ?? 

I also totally disagree with the OP that it's hard to closeout a series on the road. No. 1 and 2 seeds do it all the time, it's  common, especially in the 1st 2 rounds as their opponents are not that good.

Just to be clear I didn't make my Hawks selection just because of that Josh Smith quote in fact his quote had nothing to do with my pick I just thought the Hawks would be confident with their Game 5 performance and carry it into Game 6 in front of the home fans