Monday night features a battle of Eastern Conference teams as the Atlanta Hawks (24-23) take on the Chicago Bulls (21-24). The Bulls will host this one at the United Center, with tipoff scheduled for 8:00 pm ET.
The Hawks are coming off of a loss as they were taken down at home 122-118 by the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. In the defeat, Dejounte Murray had a team-high 26 points, while De’Andre Hunter and Trae Young added 25 points apiece.
The Bulls have won back-to-back games, including a 126-108 win over the Detroit Pistons in their overseas game in Paris, France. Zach LaVine had a game-high 30 points, while Nikola Vucevic had a double-double with 16 points and 15 assists.
The Bulls are slight favorites playing at home. They are -122 to win, while the Hawks’ moneyline sits at +104. The spread features Atlanta as 1.5-point underdogs (-110), and the over/under for total points is 237.5 (-110).
Hawks Try To Get Back Into Win Column
At 24-23, the Hawks currently sit in the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite their loss last time out, they have played well as of late, winning seven of their last 10. They are also slightly above .500 against teams in their own conference at 17-16.
The Hawks’ offense ranks 10th in the NBA, averaging 116 points per game. They are led by superstar Trae Young, who is averaging 27.1 points, 9.8 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Other major contributors for the Hawks include Dejounte Murray (21 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.7 steals), De’Andre Hunter (15.8 points, 4.3 rebounds), and Bogdan Bogdanovic (15.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists). Of note, Bogdanovic is questionable for this game as he deals with a knee injury.
Defensively, Atlanta ranks 21st in the league, allowing an average of 116.3 points per game (118 on the road).
Bulls Look For Three In A Row
The Bulls currently sit in 10th in the Eastern Conference, but they aren’t too far from contention. In fact, only 3.5 games separate themselves from sixth in the East. They will look to keep their winning streak going as they play at the United Center, where they are 12-10 on the year.
Chicago ranks 18th in the NBA in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 115 points per game (113.7 at home).
On the offensive side, they rank 13th overall, averaging 114.8 points per game. Their leading scorers include DeMar DeRozan (26.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists) and Zach LaVine (24.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists).
Nikola Vucevic has been playing really well as of late. In fact, he has a double-double in 10 straight games. On the year, he is averaging 17.5 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Take The Bulls To Win And Cover
Looking at the trends, the Hawks are just 2-4 straight up and 1-5 against the spread in their last six games against the Bulls. Furthermore, they are 1-4 against the spread in their last five games at the United Center.
For the Bulls, they are 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games, and they are 8-4 against the spread in their last 12 January games. Furthermore, the OVER has hit in six of their last eight games at home.
The Bulls come into this one on a bit of a roll and should be well-rested after returning from France last Thursday. On the flip side, the Hawks struggled down the stretch against one of the worst teams in the league in Charlotte, scoring just 53 points in the second half in a four-point loss.
Expect that cold shooting to continue and the Bulls to not only win this one at home, but to cover the modest 1.5-point spread (-110) as well.
