Raptors picks and props vs. Bulls Oct. 27: Bet on Chicago to cover and Schroder to contribute

The Toronto Raptors head to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls tonight.

The pregame narrative: The Raptors ground out a three-point win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in their opener while the Bulls got spanked by the Oklahoma City Thunder in theirs. But I'm expecting the Bulls to rebound, and am also backing Dennis Schroder to hit a pair of threes.

NBA oddsas of 10:34 a.m. ET on 10/27/2023.

Raptors picks and props vs. Bulls

Best Bet: Bulls -2 (-100)

It's not often you see a team have a players-only meeting after game one. But that's what happened in Chicago after the Bulls lost by 20 points to the Thunder.

Billy Donovan's team allowed OKC to shoot 54.9% from the field and 48.7% from deep in that game. None of this sounds like a compelling reason to back the Bulls, but I expect some positive regression for their defence.

Chicago owned the fifth-best defensive rating (111.5) in the NBA last season and held opponents to the eighth-fewest points per game (111.6).

And it's no secret Toronto struggles to put the ball in the basket. The Raptors averaged the eighth-fewest PPG (112.8) last year and netted just 97 points on Wednesday night.

The Raps went 14-27 on the road last year and failed to cover or push as 2-point underdogs in all but three of those losses.

Key stat: Chicago was 13-9 ATS as a home favourite last season.

Quick pick

Schroder over 1.5 threes (+138): This line seems off, but I'm not complaining. Schroder hit 4-of-8 threes in his Raptors debut and I'm asking him for just half of that production tonight.

The German point guard played 33 minutes in Toronto's opener and scored a team-high 22 points. There's no reason to believe he'll see a decrease in minutes tonight, especially when you consider how his backup played.

Malachi Flynn had more turnovers and fouls (6) than he had points and assists (5) in his 10 minutes of play.

Chicago allowed OKC to fire at will on Wednesday and Schroder should get plenty of looks from deep.