Milwaukee Bucks at Chicago Bulls Betting Preview
The Milwaukee Bucks (38-25) head out to the Windy City of Chicago in hopes of blowing away the Bulls (39-24) to move up in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Bucks are coming off a massive win against the top-ranked Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference, while the Bulls are coming off a tough loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night.
With these two teams so close in the standings, this game will be challenging and critical for both teams. The Bucks are listed at -3.5 over the Bulls on the betting side of this game.
Bucks Are Looking to Move Up in Heated Eastern Conference
The Bucks are riding high off their win against the Heat and are 6-4 in their last ten games. Giannis Antetokounmpo is having an excellent season for the Bucks, with an average of 29.3 points per game and 11.5 rebounds. These stats have made Antetokounmpo the team leader for the Bucks, and his 29.3 points put him second in the NBA in PPG.
The Bucks will need Khris Middleton to have another breakout game to help Antetokounmpo rack up the points against the Bulls. Middleton scored 26 points in the game against the Heat, which is 6.4 points above his season average. If these two players can have a good night, it will be bad for the Bulls, who have slipped down to third place in the Eastern Conference standings, while a win for the Bucks will put them over the Bulls in the standings.
Can the Bulls Right the Ship and Get Back in the Winners Circle
The Bulls have let first place in the Eastern Conference slip away from them and are in danger of falling even further in the standings. They have lost three in a row and are 6-4 in their last ten games, which isn’t helping their case if they want to make a deep run in the NBA playoffs when the time comes. The Bulls are also missing Lonzo Ball, who had been one of the better defensive players for the team until his knee injury in a game against the Golden State Warriors in January.
While Ball has been out, the Bulls have gone 12-10 without him and have been using rookie Ayo Dosunmo to fill the void left by Ball’s knee injury. While Dosunmo’s numbers aren’t great, they aren’t bad either, as he has averaged 11.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in the 23 games that the Bulls have had him in as a starter. For the Bulls to have a chance, they will need great play from Dosunmo along with stellar play from DeMar DeRozan, who has been averaging 35.6 points over the last ten games.
Betting Prediction
Looking at the spread stats, the Bucks are 27-36-0 against the spread and 13-7 as the road team favorites, while the Bulls are 36-26-1 against the spread and 4-4 as the home team underdogs during the NBA regular season. While the Bulls have the overall edge with the spread, they aren’t as good against the spread as home underdogs as the Bucks are being road team favorites. The Bulls are also on a skid, which might play a factor in this game.
While the Bulls are on a skid, they are 7-3 in their last ten home games, while the Bucks are 5-5 in their last ten road games. The Bulls will be looking to the home crowd to give them that extra push to keep this game close. With all of these things in mind, the Bulls at +3.5 is the pick to play for this game.
