The Chicago Bulls haven’t won a road game in five weeks. The Spurs have yet to lose at home this season. The teams collide on Thursday with San Antonio looking for its 31st straight home win and to deal a blow to Chicago’s teetering playoff hopes.
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SCHEDULING
Just when things started to look up for the Bulls, they didn’t. Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic both returned to the lineup over the weekend and Chicago snapped a four-game losing skid with a 108-100 win over the Rockets. For a moment it looked like the Bulls team that many projected would be a contender in the East, but for most of the season hasn’t been. Following Monday’s game with Milwaukee, the Bulls will be off a few days before a visit to San Antonio for the front end of a back-to-back. And the Bulls may be without Butler, the team’s leading scorer experienced swelling in his knee after missing 11 games with a sprained knee.
Visiting teams have entered the ATT Center 30 times this season, and on every occasion they exited with a defeat. Thursday’s matchup is the third in four nights for the Spurs, who opened the stretch with a loss in Indiana on Monday in the first of a road back-to-back. San Antonio has played just two home games since Feb. 7, thanks in part to the annual rodeo trip that had them on the road for eight straight games spanning the All-Star break. The Spurs failed to cover the spread in their last home game, beating the Kings by 10 as an 11.5-point favorite. Overall, they’ve been solid at the window going 20-10 ATS at home.
INJURIES
Butler experienced swelling in his knee after returning to the lineup over the weekend. He didn’t play Monday and will be monitored closely. Guard Aaron Brooks left the Milwaukee game with a knee injury and forward Bobby Portis was taken out due to an eye injury. Both are listed as questionable moving forward, but that could change with a few days off before facing the Spurs.
Tony Parker left Monday’s game with a toe injury and didn’t return. He is listed as day-to-day. The injury follows back-to-back two-point games for Parker and could be a bad sign for the Spurs. Patty Mills would see more time if Parker is out for an extended period.
KEY MATCHUP
While the bodies keep dropping around him, Pau Gasol continues to do what he’s always done as a member of the Bulls. Gasol collected his second triple-double in five games going for 12 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists in Monday’s win over Milwaukee. What’s clear to Chicago fans is that the 35-year-old continues to play elite basketball, and he’s a big reason the disappointing Bulls are able to cling for dear life to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. In the last seven games – of which Butler has sat out six times – Gasol’s averaging 16.4 points, 13.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists, helping Chicago tread water during that stretch. As the Bulls have been plagued by injury after injury, Gasol has been a constant, playing in 59 of 62 games, averaging 17.0 points on 47 percent shooting, and grabbing 11.1 rebounds. He’s become the focal point of the offense, which runs through him at the post. He still has the moves to go to the hole, can pull up for a mid-range jumper, and his passing is vastly underrated.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The Bulls are trying their best to hold onto a playoff spot in the East, but the injuries just won’t go away. Butler and Mirotic both returned on Saturday, then the club lost Brooks and Portis in Monday’s game. Meanwhile, Butler experienced swelling in the sprained knee that forced him out of 11 games and he’s back on the shelf. It’s tough to win games without the best players available and the constant reshuffling makes the rotations difficult to establish. The Bulls posted home wins in their last two, but now hit the road where they’ve lost seven straight and are 1-6 ATS. It’s asking a lot for them to beat the Spurs, who have yet to lose in 30 home games this season.
San Antonio 107, Chicago 99
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Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The matchup between the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs will take place Thursday, March 10, 2016, at 8 p.m. ET at the ATT Center. The contest will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
