The Chicago Bulls will make the second stop in a five game road swing to the West when they visit the two-time defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors on Friday, January 11, 2019 at the Oracle Arena.
As if the Chicago Bulls aren’t struggling enough, the Bulls are currently on a five game road swing to the West. In the first game of their trip, the Bulls lost 112-124 to the Blazers in Portland. On Friday, the Bulls take on the Warriors in Oakland and after that, they will make trips to Utah, the L.A. Lakers and Denver. The first order of business though is Golden State and that’s a herculean task for the Bulls.
Zach LaVine is averaging 23.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game to pace the Bulls. Jabari Parker is averaging 14.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, the returning Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn are also making contributions to their team. Markkanen is producing 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while Dunn is dishing off 6.9 assists per game while scoring 13.9 points per outing.
Chicago is the lowest scoring team in the NBA, averaging just 100.7 points per game. The Bulls are ranked 27th in passing and rebounding, averaging 21.6 dimes per contest and 41.4 boards per night, respectively. Chicago is also ranked 16th in scoring defense as they allow their opponents to score 110.2 points per game this season.
After going 3-3 from December 25th to January 3rd, the Golden State Warriors are having a rather light schedule this week. The Warriors hosted the Knicks last January 8th and will welcome the Bulls on Friday. With just two games in a six day period, the Warriors are well-rested and that should mean trouble for the visitors. Golden State is 27-14 on the season and are working double-time to catch the Nuggets on top of the Western Conference.
Stephen Curry leads Golden State with 28.9 points per game while also adding 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Kevin Durant is averaging 28.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game while Klay Thompson is scoring 21.6 points per game. Draymond Green is the team leader in rebounds and assists with 8.0 RPG and 6.8 APG, respectively.
Offensively, the Warriors look prolific as ever. The Dubs rank 3rd in the league in scoring at 116.7 points per game and they also lead the league in passing with 28.3 assists per night. Defensively, it’s another story though because while they are 9th in rebounding at 46.1 boards per night, the Warriors rank just 20th in scoring defense with their 111.7 points per game allowed.
The Bulls are 3-7 SU in their last 10 games played including 2-2 in four games on the road. The Warriors are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played including 3-3 SU in six games played at the Oracle Arena. Head to head, the Warriors are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games against the Bulls.
The Bulls lost by 24 points to this Warriors team last October 29, 2018. In that game, Justin Holiday and Cameron Payne started for Chicago. Both are no longer with the team now while Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn are back from injury Still, that may not make a difference for the Bulls on Friday.
The Warriors are certainly not where they want to be at this stage of the season. They are trailing the Denver Nuggets by 1.5 games for the overall lead in the Western Conference and the Toronto Raptors have a better record than both the Nuggets and Warriors. But the Dubs are slowly getting their old form back after the early season injury which sidelined Steph Curry.
Another positive for Golden State is that Klay Thompson is starting to make his shots. Thompson had struggled to shoot since the start of the season but in his last five games played, Thompson is averaging 27.2 points on 51% accuracy from behind the three point area. In his last game, Thompson poured in 43 points against a lowly Knicks team which can be compared to the Bulls in terms of performance this season.
The Warriors also have had enough time to rest and reload this week as they will only be playing their second game (both games at home) in six days. The Bulls have lost five in a row entering this game and will play four more road games against West ( including this one) before heading home. I don’t see how the Bulls win. We’re picking the Golden State Warriors to beat the Chicago Bulls on 1/11/19.
Chicago is 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Bulls are 3-1 ATS in their last four road games played. Meanwhile, the Dubs are only 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games. Golden State is 1-5 ATS in their last six home games played. Head to head, the Bulls are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games against the Warriors.
The Warriors are just 1-5 ATS in their last six home games and the Bulls are 4-1 ATS in their last five games against teams with a winning percentage of above .600. Head to head though, the home teams is 23-9-1 ATS in the last 33 meetings between these two teams. The Bulls are also 2-5 ATS in their last seven meetings and 1-4 ATS in their last five games in Golden State. Golden State isn’t exactly dominating their opposition the way they used to but they are slowly but surely getting back their old form. The Bulls have lost their last five games by an average of 13.2 points per game and with Klay hitting his shots now, the Dubs should cover this big spread. Prediction: Warriors -15.5
The total has gone under in 25 out of the 41 games played by the Bulls. The under is 12-8 in Chicago’s 20 road games played this season. The total has gone over in 21 out of the 41 games played by the Warriors this season. Golden State has seen the under prevail in 13 out of 22 home games this season. Head to head, the over is 2-1 in the last three meetings between these two teams.
The Warriors have averaged 126 points per game in their last five games and 119.2 points in their last 10 games played. Klay Thompson is shooting 51.3% from behind the arc and averaging 27.2 points per game in his last five games. The Warriors are going to score enough points to get the score across the total. Prediction: Over 221.5
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