A pair of teams fighting to hold onto playoff bids will collide at the UC on Saturday night when James Harden and the Rockets collide with the injury riddled Bulls - who might get a key cog back into the picture - for the first time this season.
You can bet on NBA odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
SCHEDULING
Chicago is currently in the midst of an important three in four games to be played at home. After falling to the Heat and Magic on back-to-back nights to open the week, Fred Hoiberg’s squad is now out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture residing in tenth place tied with the Wizards a half-game out of the eighth and final playoff seed.
This game will be followed by another home clash with Milwaukee followed by a trip to San Antonio before returning home for a grudge match with the Miami Heat. A majority of the team’s games to close out the season come on the road, so the club would do itself a major solid if it were able to take advantage of all the remaining games to be played in front of the hometown faithful.
KEY MATCHUP
It’s no wonder the Bulls recent downswing coincides directly with the absence of All-Star guard Jimmy Butler. He’s now missed 11 straight games and Chicago stands 3-8 SU and 4-7 ATS during that stretch.
However, it’s believed Butler will be able to make his long awaited return to the starting lineup on Saturday which means his 22.4 PPG, 4.3 APG and 5.2 RPG will be reinstalled into the Bulls mix against a Rockets defense ranked No. 26 in points allowed and No. 25 in field goal percentage allowed.
Chicago’s failed to register triple digits in three of its last four games, and just shot a wretched 38.4 percent and tallied 89 points against the Orlando Magic. It goes without saying just how welcome an addition Butler will be to the starting lineup, and the Rockets porous defense could see him get right back to lighting up the scoreboard immediately.
LIVE BETTING SCENARIO
As bad as Houston’s defense has been all season, the Bulls have been pretty terrible leading into the All-Star break and out of it. Over the course of the team’s last 15 games, Chicago has failed to disallow the opposition from hitting the century mark and gave up an average of 109.5 points per game – that’s 6.7 points higher than their seasonal average!
Harden along with Trevor Ariza and Dwight Howard could have a field day in this one with nobody on Chicago able to body up with Howard or defend the guard duo should Butler not be able to give it a go or be hindered throughout the game.
I’m not exactly sure how much of an impact Butler will make in his first game back. Chicago has been pretty terrible without his services and stands just 19-11 SU and 12-18 ATS when at home.
Houston’s failed to cover each of its last three games but just dealt with the return of a superstar to a lineup last time out in Anthony Davis who went for just 12 points in the Rockets much-needed 100-95 win over the Pelicans.
Chicago is going absolutely nowhere this season, and most of their fans would much rather they tank the rest of the way so they can snag a better draft pick. I’m not buying into what the franchise is selling right now. Changes need to be made.
Should they get out to a substantial lead in any of their remaining regular season games, I’d look to fade them on the live betting lines and snag the opponent at a bloated return.
They have just three wins in their last 10 games and it’s going to be awfully hard to put much separation between them and the Rockets on the scoreboard with Houston owning the more cohesive and healthier team at this juncture.
Need to fund your account before the big game but don’t have your computer? No problem, BookMaker Sportsbook now offers a mobile betting cashier so you can deposit money directly from your smartphone. Don’t miss out on getting paid because you couldn’t bet, click here and deposit at BookMaker now! The contest between the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls will take place Saturday, March 5, 2016, at 8:30 p.m. ET at the United Center. Watch the game live on ABC.
