The Bulls have a couple games to get back on track before Sunday, but right now, Chicago is struggling and an easy matchup against the Lakers is a bit of a gift. Over their last seven games, the Bulls have tallied just one win.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Lakers continue to scuffle with a 11-44 overall record and just two wins in their last 15 games. Still, Los Angeles’s success ATS has improved over their last handful of games.
Since the start of February, Los Angeles has covered the spread in all five games played.
While the Bulls are the superior team, they find themselves just a couple games over .500 and have a really poor 19-33 mark ATS. They’ve been a tough team to back all season and have continued that trend, covering the spread just twice in their last nine games.
WHEN THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS ARE ON OFFENSE
The Lakers’ offense will have to contend with a Bulls’ defense ranked second in the NBA, holding the opposition to a 43.1 percent shooting mark from the field.
On the year, Los Angeles is one of the worst offenses, scoring just 96.5 PPG and shooting only 41.2 percent from the floor. Despite that, they did manage 111 points against a strong Cavaliers team just before the break.
In the game, guards Louis Williams and Jordan Clarkson hung 28 and 22 points respectively while Kobe Bryant and D’Angelo Russell each scored at least 15.
Cleveland is actually a stronger defense than the Bulls, allowing five fewer PPG than the team from Chicago.
The offense has been spotty for the Lakers of late, but spotty is better than consistently poor. Los Angeles will try and keep the offense going as they face the Bulls.
Keep a close eye on the usage of Clarkson and Williams. Those two are the key to the Lakers’ success on offense. Bryant is always the one taking the most shots, but if Clarkson and Williams get a few more looks as they did against Cleveland, look for the Lakers to exceed offensive expectations and back the over.
WHEN THE CHICAGO BULLS ARE ON OFFENSE
The Bulls offense has been scuffling. Over its last 14 games, Chicago is averaging 97.8 PPG, several points less than its 101.2 PPG scoring average.
Chicago is without guard Jimmy Butler, center Joakim Noah and forward Nikola Mirotic. On top of that, Taj Gibson is dealing with a foot injury, though is expected to play.
Still, the team’s down two of the four players averaging double digits as well as one of their defensive leaders inside.
The loss of Butler is huge and puts a ton more pressure on Derrick Rose on the outside. He’s shooting 40.8 percent from the floor and has 15.9 PPG. That’s second on the team amongst active players, just behind center Pau Gasol’s 17.
As a team, the Bulls are a below average shooting team with a 43.5 percent conversion rate. They’re amongst the top-10 from behind the arc, but the loss of Butler diminishes that strength. The Lakers’ defense is also pretty strong against the outside shot—at least compared to their defense in the post.
BETTING TRENDS AND MATCHUPS
The Bulls easily covered the 14.5-point spread when these teams faced off in the City of Angels at the end of last month.
In that game, the Bulls had Butler on the court, however, and got 26-points and 10-assists from him. Still, he wasn’t the only one with a double-double as Gasol notched 21-points and 12-rebounds.
In the game, Chicago shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and on defense, held the Lakers to just 37.6 percent shooting.
With a number of that game’s standout out for this one, it won’t be as easy for the Bulls.
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