The Bulls play a rare road game when they take time out of their schedule to visit the Garden for a showdown with the Knickerbockers. Chicago has been away from home the fewest times of any team in the NBA will try to reach the .500 mark in games outside the United Center. The Bulls own the second-best record in the East but are just 4-5 SU and ATA on the road.
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SCHEDULING
No team has played away from home less than the Bulls, who have gone 4-5 SU and ATS away from the United Center. Chicago will play just its 10th road game of the season when it visits the Knickerbockers on Saturday in the second game of a back-to-back. Not only have the Bulls played a majority of their games at home, they’ve avoided the dreaded two-games-in-two-days schedule, playing for only the third time on consecutive nights. They are 2-0 SU and ATS in such games this season. Chicago will return home after the Knicks game for a matchup with Brooklyn before a two-game road swing to Oklahoma City and Dallas. While it’s nice to have a slew of home games now with little travel, it all evens out in the long run.
The Knicks are also on the second of a back-to-back after visiting Philadelphia on Friday and kick-off a mini two-game home set with Orlando coming in Monday. The Knicks have been one of the better plays in the Eastern Conference with a 15-11 ATS record, but most of that has been accomplished on the road. The Knicks are just 6-7 ATS at the Garden.
INJURIES
After experiencing a setback in his recovery from offseason back surgery, Bulls guard Mike Dunleavy isn’t expected to resume on-court work for another four to six weeks. Dunleavy has yet to play in a game this season and there is no timetable for his return to the lineup. His absence has opened the door for Doug McDermott to play more minutes at the small forward spot and the second year player has excelled.
KEY MATCHUP
McDermott looks and sounds like a different player in his second NBA season. The Bulls swingman played one of the best games of his young professional career in Wednesday’s win over Memphis, scoring 17 points while helping Chicago to its fourth straight victory. After struggling to find a rhythm early in the season, McDermott has settled in nicely for new coach Fred Hoiberg. He’s scored 42 points during a three-game stretch and is shooting 44.6 percent from beyond the arc. An argument could be made that no player has benefitted more from the transition from Tom Thibodeau to Hoiberg. McDermott is no longer worried about coming out of games after a mistake or missed assignment. Instead the coaching staff is running plays for him, showing confidence the previous regime didn’t. And McDermott’s confidence has translated into more minutes and higher production on the court. The Bulls always knew he could shoot and they always hoped his offensive ability would shine through. After a season in which he rarely saw the floor, he’s becoming the player the Bulls imagined he would be.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Thanks to rookie Kristaps Porzingis the Knicks have been a surprise in the East. They’re nearing their entire win total from last season and we just passed the quarter mark, so things are looking up in the Big Apple. Several big questions remain, however. The team has a short bench and other than Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony, there is little scoring. Those can be answered if general manager Phil Jackson wants to swing a deal and his trade bait is Anthony, who is aging out of his stay in New York. The rebuild will likely take longer than Melo’s knees can hold out. So is it possible the team deals him? Don’t count it out. The Bulls have the opposite problem – if you want to call it that. There is too much depth and too few minutes to go around. Joakim Noah has voiced his displeasure over minutes and when Dunleavy returns the minutes will shrink even more. In the meantime Bobby Portis wilts away on the bench. The veteran leaders on the Bulls will make it work, though, with the team goal the most important one. Hoiberg has done a nice job spreading time around and keeping mostly everyone satisfied and winning is a great deodorant. Get another W and everyone is happy. And that’s what the Bulls do against the Knicks.
Chicago 103, New York 96
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