NBA: Chicago Bulls vs Brooklyn Nets Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Chicago Bulls hit the road to meet the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays tonight in one highly interesting matchup. The Nets played last night, hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves, squeezing out a win against a very potent unit from Minneapolis. Meanwhile, the Bulls have back-to-back wins, the last one against the Knicks, and it seems that their form has been on the uphill in the past few days. The game at Barclays might have a great impact on the final standings, because both units have high ambitions and are currently atop the Eastern Conference.

Preview

Chicago Bulls (15-8, +130) won three times in the past four games against the Orlando Magic, the Charlotte Hornets, and the New York Knicks. Their only loss during that span was against the Miami Heat, 107-104 in Chicago.

Overall, the Bulls are looking solid. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are among the best scorers in the league. The first averages 26.3 points per game, and the second, 25.4. Nikola Vucevic drops 15.3 but adds 10.9 boards, and we think the strong center is yet to improve his offensive numbers as the season goes by.

Bulls snapped a win in Madison two nights ago, in a very intense matchup with the Knicks, 119-115. DeRozan had 34 points, 12-for-19 from the field, Lavine scored 27, the same as Vucevic, who hit five threes in nine shots. These three guys were the only ones with a double-digit number of points.

Brooklyn Nets (16-6, -150) are also coming off back-to-back wins, beating the New York Knicks and the Timberwolves in the recent few days. Previously, the Nets lost at home to the Phoenix Suns, which was yet another big disappointment to their fans who are still expecting to see a victory over a direct rival for the NBA title.

Brooklyn had to work hard to earn a win over the talented Timberwolves, who were hanging on until the very end of their matchup. The final result, 110-105, tells pretty much everything, and if it weren’t for Kevin Durant, who delivered key points, things would have been much different in this event.

KD ended the night with 30 points, 10 boards, and six assists; Patty Mills scored 23 points, while James Harden added 20 with nine assists and seven rebounds. The Beard and KD had 28 free throws combined last night, hitting 24 of them.

Head to Head Games

The Bulls and the Nets already met once this year, in Chicago, Back then, the hosts posted a big win, 118-95, trashing the guests 42-17 in the last quarter. Durant scored 38 points with 11 boards, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 19 for the Nets. On the other side, DeRozan had 28 buckets, while Lavine ended the night with 24.

Prediction

The line for the total number of points in this event is set at 220. Looking at the recent performances of the Bulls, whose offense is in great shape, we believe that this event has a big potential to end with over points. The Bulls’ versatile attack will try to score as many points as possible, and the Nets are going to respond in the same way. Therefore, Over 220 points is our choice in this particular event.

Pick: Over 220 points