NBA: Chicago Bulls vs. Washington Wizards Preview, Odds, Prediction

The dazzled Chicago Bulls jump to DC to face the Washington Wizards. Things are not good for the Bulls, who are experiencing a collapse in the worst possible moment. With a few games until the end of the regular campaign and the start of the playoffs, Billy Donovan’s team is playing arguably its worst basketball this season. All the good stuff they managed to do throughout the past few months could be lost. On the other side, the Wizards are waiting for the season to finish and start over. They have lots of injured players, so we can’t really say anything against Wes Unseld Jr. and his unit. Simply, luck was against them throughout this season.

Preview

Chicago Bulls (43-32, -150) have four losses in the last six games, and right now, they might even lose the spot that leads directly to the playoffs. Now that would be a big blow to the Bulls, who were even topping the conference at one point this season.

The most recent disappointment was at Madison, where Knick managed to beat the Bulls last night, 109-104. Despite DeMar Derozan’s excellent performance and 37 points, the Bulls ended up on the losing side. The veteran guard had seven assists and six boards, being perfect off the free-throw line, hitting all 12 of his attempts.

Zach LaVine scored 27 points, and Nikola Vucevic had 16 with 13 rebounds and two steals. Besides these three, with a double-digit number of buckets, the only one was Dosunmu, with 10 points.

Washington Wizards (34-42, +140) are out of the play-in race, and this campaign was highly for them and their fans. Lots of injuries have stopped their surge towards the top half of the East standings, forcing the organization to make a couple of trades and extend their rebuild for at least one year.

They are coming into this game with back-to-back victories, one in Detroit against the Pistons and the other at home over the Golden State Warriors, 123-115. Despite the Warriors playing without Steph Curry, this was a big deal for Unseld Jr’s crew.

The young forward, Corey Kispert, scored 25 points, hitting six threes and having a team-high. Kristaps Porzingis scored 23 with nine boards and six assists, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 22 buckets. Another young star, Deni Avdija ended the game having 14 points but seven boards and four assists.

Head to Head Games

We’ve seen two games between the Bulls and the Wizards this year. The first was in DC and the Bulls narrowly won, 120-119. The second was in Chicago, and the Bulls posted a victory again, 130-122.

Prediction

The Bulls are in a state of shock, especially following last night’s loss in New York. This might be odd to you, but they aren’t favorites for us here. Washington plays well, they are on the rise coming after a big W over the Warriors, playing at home and having more time to prepare for this clash. These factors are enough for us to take some risk and recommend betting on the hosts’ victory. The odds on that are +145, and our final pick here is Washington to triumph.

Pick: Wizards win