It’s not how you start rather it’s how you finish. And the Chicago Bulls haven’t been very good at finishing lately. Their blistering start to the season has them a likely playoff team, but Monday’s loss to Sacramento to open a Western Conference swing was their sixth in eight games leaving them just three games ahead of Toronto for the seventh-seed in the East. Busting out of their funk isn’t going to be easy against the Phoenix Suns, the best team in the NBA. Following a disappointing home loss to Toronto, the Suns won their next two by a combined 45 points.
The NBA game between the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns will air live on NBATV with tip off at 10 p.m. ET on Friday, March 18, 2022 from Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ. BookMaker.eu will have betting options for every game on the NBA schedule.
NBA Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
I think the Bulls surprised a lot of people with their hot start that continued into February with a six-game winning streak toward the end of the month putting them at 39-21. They’ve had problems beating the better teams in the league and that was demonstrated recently with setbacks to Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee and Philadelphia during a recent five-game SU and ATS slide. They stopped the bleeding with wins over Detroit and Cleveland, but if they can’t beat teams like Sacramento, which is 20 games under .500, the Bulls can’t be considered serious contenders. Their record right now suggests otherwise. Chicago is 41-27 SU and just 4.0 games off the Eastern Conference lead and they’ve paid off backers by going 37-30-1 ATS overall.
As if last season’s loss to Milwaukee in the NBA Finals isn’t enough motivation, the Suns may have gotten more incentive for a return trip thanks to a player on one of their closest pursuers in the West. Golden State’s Draymond Green said this week that the Warriors are going to win the championship regardless of their seed in the conference. That’s news to the Suns, who have had the best record in the NBA since the first week of the regular season. And they’ve played well in the absence of Chris Paul, who’s been out since the All-Star break. They are 7-4 SU and 5-6 ATS in Paul’s absence and responded to their latest setback by thumping the Lakers and Pelicans with easy covers to go 3-1 ATS in their last four.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are hoping their defense gets a boost with the return of Alex Caruso. Things looked good in his return to the lineup when they shut down Cleveland in a 101-91 win over the weekend. It was the first time the Bulls held an opponent to fewer than 100 points since, ironically, Caruso’s last game before going on the shelf. Back in late January they lost to Milwaukee 94-90. They did give up 112 to Sacramento but still cashed the UNDER for the fifth straight game and for the eighth time in nine outings.
With second leading scorer Zach LaVine dealing with a sore knee, the offense falls on DeMar DeRozan. The former Raptor has been spectacular averaging 28 points while shooting over 50 percent from the field. DeRozan will have to match Devin Booker for the Bulls to have a chance at pulling off the upset in the desert.
Phoenix Suns
Every now and then the Suns have a collapse but they’ve been few and far between this season. And when they do lose they usually respond with a vengeance. Following a loss to Toronto where they committed uncharacteristic mistakes down the stretch, the Suns regrouped with a pair of convincing wins. They tallied 48 first quarter points to beat the Lakers 140-111 and followed that with another offensive eruption to beat the Pelicans 131-115 on Tuesday night.
Booker has taken over in the absence of Paul scoring at least 22 points in every game since the All-Star break while hitting the 30-point mark three times. He leads the club averaging nearly 26 points. As a team the Suns were on fire in those two wins shooting a combined 57.2 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from behind the arc. We could see another high scoring effort against the defensively challenged Bulls.
Bulls at Suns NBA Odds Pick
The Suns are not a team you want to play when you’re struggling. Heck, you wouldn’t want to play them when things are going good. We’ve seen the Bulls struggle against elite teams all season and Phoenix is at the top of the heap. The teams played a close one last month with Phoenix getting a 3-point road win, but the Bulls needed a big fourth quarter to make it close. I don’t think this one will be as tight.
NBA Odds Prediction: Phoenix Suns / OVER
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