Chicago Bulls vs Charlotte Hornets betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game. Chicago is hoping to put an end to a 3-game losing streak as they host a team they’ve already beaten twice this season, the Charlotte Hornets. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Chicago Bulls
Miami, Milwaukee and Boston are all the teams that beat the Chicago Bulls over the past 7 days and that just further emphasized Chicago’s inability of beating the top teams in the NBA this season. Against a team like the Hornets they should have a bit more luck, especially since they’ve already beaten them twice this year. The game played in Chicago finished with a 133-119 win for the home team, the trio of Vucevic, DeRozan and LaVine combined to score 83 points.
As a team the Bulls shot the ball almost 60% from the field and they’ll look to repeat that performance tonight against a Hornets squad that has allowed 144 points in consecutive games. The Bulls are 9-4 SU in their last 13 vs Southeast Division teams, however they’ve covered the spread in just 5 of their last 20 games so that is something to keep in mind before betting on this game.
Charlotte Hornets
Allowing 144 points in back-to-back games isn’t a good look for anyone, especially not for a team that has had issues on the defensive end all season long. The 2 losses in a row have also caused Charlotte to drop in the standings to 10th place in the East, which would mean they are headed to Atlanta for the play-in game if the season ended today. Getting back Gordon Hayward was supposed to be a positive for this team, but instead they’ve struggled with chemistry over the past several games.
His status for tonight is questionable, he has been very cautious since returning and isn’t willing to force it to avoid re-injuring himself. There’s not much good news for the Hornets before tonight’s game – they’ve won just 7 of their last 20 games vs Eastern Conference teams and they’ve failed to cover in the last 5 meetings with Chicago.
The Bulls are pretty much set to finish 6th in the East, without a possibility of moving either up or down. Charlotte still has something to play for here, but will that be enough? I’m not so sure, Chicago has been really solid at home with a 27-13 record this season. I’m backing them to win a close one here.
Chicago Bulls vs Charlotte Hornets Predictions & Odds
Anything but a high scoring game here would be a huge surprise for me, with the way the Hornets & Bulls have performed defensively as of late. They are allowing 129.7 points per game over their last 3 outings, the Bulls aren’t far behind with 123.7 per game scored against them.
The total has gone over in 6 of the last 10 meetings, so that’s also something to consider. Charlotte has gone over in 5 of 6 on the road, they are 22-18 on the O/U for the season.
Chicago is 21-18-1 on the O/U at the United Center, with 3 of their last 4 games going over the total. The 2 teams have spent most of the season in the top 10 in terms of offensive efficiency. At the moment Charlotte ranks 10th averaging 111.1 points per 100 possessions, while the Bulls are right behind them averaging 110.8 points.
Charlotte also likes to play very fast – they rank 4th in pace of play this season averaging 102.4 possessions per game. With the last 13 of 18 meetings head-to-head finishing over, I see no other outcome here but a high scoring game, so let’s back the points.
