Senior Writer Vegas Matty previews Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets from the standpoint of the sports gambler.
One of the best scores and odds games has the Chicago Bulls (44-18) bring a three-game winning streak to Charlotte on Wednesday in hopes of evening the season series with the Bobcats (26-37) at two games apiece. Charlotte won the first two meetings with Chicago by a combined six points before the Bulls pulled off a 106-94 victory in the last game between the teams on February 15.
The Bobcats have since traded Gerald Wallace to Portland and lost leading scorer Stephen Jackson to a hamstring injury, winning just once in six games. They are currently riding a five-game losing streak, going 1-4 against the spread after falling at home 92-87 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. A lack of scoring has obviously been the major concern, as the team is averaging only 81.2 points per game during the skid with the UNDER cashing each time.
That pattern is not likely to change here against a Chicago team that has tightened the screws defensively since losing 118-113 at Toronto in the first game after the All-Star break. The Bulls have not allowed an opponent to score 90 points in the last seven games, giving up an average of 81.1 points during that stretch en route to a 6-1 record with the UNDER going 7-0.
While Chicago has risen to the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race thanks in part to the struggles of the Miami Heat, the team still needs to prove itself by consistently winning on the road. The Bulls were finally able to get over the .500 mark away from home on their most recent road trip, going 4-1 both straight-up and ATS. They need just one more road victory to surpass last year’s total.
Chicago point guard Derrick Rose continues to play at an MVP level despite a hiccup here or there, scoring 21 points or more in four of the last five games. However, Rose struggled in an 83-80 loss at Atlanta on March 2, which was the lone setback during the road trip. He made just 5 of 21 shots from the field against the Hawks, totaling 12 points, 12 assists and six turnovers. Rose owns career averages of 19.9 points and 6.6 assists in 10 career games against Charlotte.
The Bobcats are 2-4 ATS in the last six meetings with the Bulls even though they won three of those games. The UNDER was 3-1 in the previous four games between them before Chicago’s most recent win in the series.
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