Central Division rivals collide on Wednesday night when the Chicago Bulls travel to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Bulls are one of the surprising teams this season and right now, they are 17-8 and in first place in the Central Division. If the playoffs were to start today, the Bulls would be the no. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland is 3rd in the Central Division team standings and they are four games off the pace set by Chicago. IF the postseason began today, the Cavs would end up in 8th place in the Eastern Conference and would have to go through the play-in tournament to make the postseason.
Chicago heads to Cleveland with a four-game winning streak which includes a win over the Nets in Brooklyn. However, the Bulls will be short-handed here with DeMar DeRozan in the health and safety protocols and Alex Caruson with a hamstring injury. The Cavs meanwhile have lost back-to-back games against the Utah Jazz and Milwaukee Bucks. Prior to that skid, however, the Cavs won four straight games which included wins over the Heat and Mavericks.
The Bulls picked up their fourth straight win against Denver and did it without top scorer DeMar DeRozan who was placed in the health and safety protocols. Zach LaVine caught fire and scored a team-high 32 points while Lonzo Ball and Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and 10 rebounds each. Derrick Jones Jr. added 12 while Ayo Dosunmo added 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Chicago is the no. 19 best scoring team in the NBA at 109.6 points per game. The Bulls rank 15th in passing at 23.4 assists per game but are just 26th in rebounding at 43.8 boards grabbed per contest. The Bulls rank 7th in scoring defense at 104.8 points per game allowed.
Cleveland will end a two-game losing streak when they host the injury-hit Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. The Cavs came up short the last time out against Giannis and the Bucks, losing 112-104. Jarrett Allen had a big night with 25 points on 10-12 shooting with 9 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to beat the Bucks. Lauri Markkanen also came up big with 20 points and 7 rebounds while rookie Evan Mobley added 12 points and six rebounds. Kevin Love scored 15 points off the Cavaliers’ bench.
Cleveland ranks 24th in the league in scoring at 104.6 points per game. They are 14th in rebounding at 45.1 boards grabbed per contest and are 10th in passing at 24.4 assists per game. The Cavs’ scoring defense is ranked no. 2 in the entire NBA at only 102.4 points per game allowed this season.
The Bulls are 5-1 SU in their last six games played. Chicago is 4-1 SU in their last five games played on the road, 4-1 SU in their last five games against the Eastern Conference.
The Cavs are 4-2 SU in their last six games played. Cleveland is 1-5 SU in their last six games played at home, and 3-7 SU in their last 10 games against the Central Division.
Head to head, the Bulls are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played against the Central Division.
The Bulls already had a formidable duo with Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. Then they added DeRozan, Ball, and Caruso. Now the Bulls have a dynamic core that has proved to be deadly on both sides of the court. However, DeRozan has been placed in the health and safety protocols while Caruso is out with a hamstring injury.
The Cavs have lost two in a row but their losses were to the Jazz and Bucks. Yet they lost by just one against Utah and 8 against Milwaukee. This is a Cleveland team that is playing its best basketball in years and they’re doing it without Collin Sexton.
Cleveland’s last two losses were to elite scoring teams Utah and Milwaukee. The Bulls are in the Top 10 in the league in scoring at 109.6 points per game and are averaging five more points than the Cavs. If LaVine and Ball get going with their outside shots here, and the Bulls have shot better on the road than at home this season, the Cavs could have a hard time keeping up with Chicago. I’ll take the more prolific scoring team here at plus money.
Prediction: Chicago Bulls
Chicago is 4-0 ATS in their last four games played. The Bulls are 4-0 ATS after scoring 100 or more points in their previous game, 4-0 ATS in their last four games when playing on one day rest, 5-1 ATS in their last six road games against an opponent with a losing home record, 4-1 in their last five games when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game, and 4-1 ATS in their last five road games.
Cleveland is 4-0 ATS in their last four games after a straight-up loss, 5-0 ATS in their last five games when playing on one day rest, 7-0 ATS in their last seven games against an opponent with a winning straight up record, 15-2 ATS in their last 17 games after an ATS win, 5-1 ATS in their last six Wednesday games, 18-5 ATS in their last 23 games overall, and 4-0 ATS in their last four home games.
Chicago is certainly undermanned here without DeRozan and Caruso. Their absence is going to hurt the Bulls’ offensive production. However, Chicago is an excellent defensive team and they can win games by tightening up that ‘D’ and holding opponents in a low-scoring game, just like what we saw against the Nuggets the last time out.
The Cavs have the edge in size here with Allen and Mobley and these two could pose problems for a Bulls team that doesn’t have the same size. But Chicago loves to run the ball as much as they can with Ball and LaVine leading the way. They will not let the Bigs dictate the game by speeding it up.
If LaVine and Ball hit their shots, it’s going to be all she wrote. I will take the plus points and the underdogs here.
Prediction: Bulls +2.5
The total has gone under in 14 out of the Bulls’ 25 games played this season. The Under is also 7-6 in their 13 road games played this season, 5-0 in their last five games as road underdogs, 14-3 in their last 17 games as an underdog, 5-2 in their last seven games after an ATS win, 5-2 in their last seven games after a straight-up victory, 17-7 in their last 24 games when playing on one day rest, and 35-17 in their last 52 games when their opponent scores 100 or more points in their previous game.
The total has gone under in 15 out of the 25 games played by the Cavs this season. The under is also 8-4 in Cleveland’s 12 home games played this year, 3-1-1 in their last five games as betting favorites, 15-7 in their last 22 games following an ATS win, 4-2 in their last six Wednesday games, and 8-3 in their last 11 games played at home.
Both these teams rank in the Top 7 in scoring defense with the Cavs at no. 2 and the Bulls at 7. Without DeRozan and Caruso, the Chicago defense will be without two key pieces. But we saw that defense adjust without them and hold the Nuggets to 97 points in their last game. Without the two, Chicago’s scoring output should be affected too.
The Cavs are the no. 2 ranked scoring defense in the NBA. They too have learned to adjust and learn more on their defense since the injury to Collin Sexton. Darius Garland has picked up the slack nicely and has carried the additional load well. However, he will be up against a long and elite defender in Lonzo Ball who could give him problems all night long.
I think both teams will try to win this game with defense and with Lonzo putting the cuffs on Garland, this should be a low-scoring game that won’t get past the total.
Prediction: Under 211
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