The Chicago Bulls face the central division leading Milwaukee Bucks on Friday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
The Bulls have lost three of four and are on a two game losing skid while the Bucks are coming off their first home loss of the season.
This game marks the return of Jabari Parker to his former homecourt. Parker was the Bucks’ #2 overall pick in 2014 and was supposed to be one of their franchise cornerstones along with Giannis Antetokounmpo. But two ACL injuries limited Parker to just a total of 183 games in his first four NBA seasons. While Parker was recovering from his second ACL injury, the Bucks rescinded their qualifying offer so that Parker could sign a two year deal with his hometown Chicago Bulls.
Parker began the season coming off the bench but since October 31, he has been inserted in the starting lineup. In his last seven games played, Parker has averaged 14.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He currently the second leading scorer in Chicago behind guard Zach LaVine who is having a strong start with his 25.9 points scoring average thru 15 games played.
Chicago ranks 21st in the league in scoring at 104.3 points per game and are 24th in assists at 24.7 dimes per contest. Meanwhile, the Bulls are allowing their opponents to score 112.3 points per game, 9th most in the NBA this season. Chicago also lags in rebounds at #25 in the league with their 42.4 rebounds per game average,
The Milwaukee Bucks suffered their first home loss of the season in their most recent game, dropping a 104-106 contest to the Detroit PIstons who are now coached by the Raptors’ former bench tactician Dwane Casey. Reggie Bullock nailed a buzzer beater as the Pistons completed a comeback from 19 points down to sink the league leading Raptors.
The Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo is having another sensational season for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo is averaging 25.8 points together with 12.7 rebounds per game to lead the Bucks. Khris Middleton is providing scoring support with 19.4 points per game while Eric Bledsoe leads the team with 6.0 assists per game while also scoring 13.9 points per outing.
Milwaukee is the top scoring team in the NBA this season at 121.0 points per game. They rank 2nd in assists at 26.9 helpers per contest and in rebounds at 51.1 boards per game. Defensively, Milwaukee allows 110.1 points per game, good for 14th in the entire league.
The Bulls lead the all-time series 131-113 but the Bucks have won five out of the last eight meetings between the two teams including the last two. Last season, the Bulls and Bucks split their four meetings two games apiece with each team winning in the other’s home floor twice. In their most recent encounter last March 23, 2018, the Bucks triumphed 118-105 in Chicago.
The Bulls are 2-3 SU in their last five games played and are 2-5 SU in their seven road games played so far this season. On the other hand, the Bucks are also 2-3 SU in their last 5 games played but are an impressive 6-1 SU in six games at home this season.
Chicago is a very young team led by LaVine and Parker. A third franchise cornerstone in forward Lauri Markkanen is currently on the injured list. Chicago’s wounded also include key players Bobby Portis, Denzel Valentine and Kris Dunn.
On the other hand, the Bucks are healthy and are playing well at both ends of the court to start the season. Given Chicago’s injuries and Milwaukee’s impressive start, I don’t think the Bucks are going to have a hard time winning on Friday. Coming off their first home loss, you bet the Bucks will be fired up. We’re picking the Milwaukee Bucks to beat the Chicago Bulls on 11/16/18.
Chicago is 8-7 ATS in 15 games played so far this season including 3-4 ATS away from their home court. On the other hand, Milwaukee is 8-5-1 ATS in 14 games played this season including an impressive 5-1-1 ATS in their seven home games played so far. Head to head, the Bucks are 2-1 SU and 2-1 ATS in their last three games against the Bulls.
The Bulls are also 3-11 ATS in their last 14 road games against teams with a winning home record and 7-17 ATS in their last 24 road games overall. The Bucks are 5-0 ATS in their last five games following an ATS loss and also 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games after an SU loss.
The Bucks are the #1 scoring team in the NBA right now while the Bulls rank 21st in scoring defense and are missing key players. I don’t think it will be close and coming off a loss, the Bucks will want to make a statement and win this game big. 13.5 points is a huge spread but given the Bucks’ ability to score and Chicago’s defensive woes, I think it’s a good play. Prediction: Bucks -13.5
The under is 10-5 in the Bulls’ 15 games played this season and the under is 4-3 in their seven road games. The over is 11-3 in the Bucks’ 14 games this season and the over is 6-1 in Milwaukee’s 7 home games so far. The total has gone over in 9 out of the last 10 games played by the Bucks against teams with losing home records and the over is 23-5 in the Bucks’ last 28 games after their opponent allowed 100 or more points in their previous game. The over is also 4-1 in the Bulls’ last 5 games against teams with a winning SU record and the total has gone over in five out of the last six meetings between these two teams.
The Bucks lead the league in scoring and play with the 5th fastest pace in the NBA at 106.0 points per 100 possessions.They average 121.0 points per game and should score way more than that against a depleted team like the Bulls. I don’t expect Chicago to score too many points but the Bucks are going to rain baskets on them so hard that 224.5 is going to be peanuts. Prediction: Over 224.5
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