Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Clippers Prediction, Preview, and Odds
“There are going to be swings, and that was the encouraging part,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “I'm seeing a response back competitively.”
Chicago took a three-point lead coming out of the first quarter, and continually built on that lead over the next two quarters on their way to the 10-point win. It was an impressive victory that spoiled the return of Lebron James. Chicago shot 54.0%, including going 14-31 from three-point range. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 32 points, hitting 13 of 19 shots.
Chicago is seventh in the NBA in points allowed per game (112.2), but has dropped that by nearly three points per game over the last five (109.4). They are allowing 113.1 points per game on the road, but have held four of their last five opponents to 108 or fewer points. Chicago is one of the best free throw shooting teams, fifth overall at 81.1%.
No House Advantage: Bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Click here to get a 1st deposit match up to $100 1st w/ promocode WandW!The Los Angeles Clippers (39-36, 37-38-0 ATS) lost to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, 131-110. New Orleans has alternated wins and losses over their last six and are in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, 0.5 games behind Phoenix. The Clippers are 20-18 at home this season but have lost three of their last four home games.“I thought they really came out to attack us tonight, and they did that,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “On the offensive end, 20 turnovers with 28 points (off turnovers) is too many, especially for a fast team like this.”
The Clippers found themselves trailing by 11 coming out of the first quarter and simply could not recover. New Orleans hit 53.1% of their shots, including going 21-34 from three-point range. The Clippers were badly outrebounded in this game (45-31). Paul George was out for this game. Bones Hyland led the team, scoring 18 points off the bench.
The Clippers are averaging 112.8 points per game and are allowing 112.2 points per game. The defense has been better over their last five, allowing 110.4 points per game, and is allowing 110.0 points per game. Los Angeles is a solid three-point shooting team, sixth in the NBA (37.8%), and is hitting 37.9% of their attempts at home this season.
Best Bets for this Game
Insiders Status:
These teams have gone over in five of the last seven meetings, but the trends have been going under for both. Chicago has gone under in four of their last five games when playing on zero day’s rest and that will be the big stat to pay attention to here. It is tough to keep those legs moving when playing the second game with no rest, and Chicago has been a team that has struggled in the second game of back-to-back nights, scoring under 100 in two of the last four such situations.
The Clippers will have Leonard for this game but will be without George. They have gone under in 30 of their last 42 at home and have gone under in 13 of their last 17 games when playing a team with a road-winning percentage of less than 40%.
Prediction: Go under 224.5 (-110)
