Chicago Bulls vs Denver Nuggets betting tips and predictions for Friday’s NBA game. After a tough 5-point loss at Portland, the Chicago Bulls look to bounce back as they continue their road trip in Denver against the Nuggets. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
Chicago Bulls
The loss against Portland really hurt the Bulls, they were up by 15 points at half-time and things were looking great. But, scoring only 44 points in the final 24 minutes of play simply wasn’t enough. Zach LaVine played another great game with 30 points, including 7 three-pointers made. DeMar DeRozan wasn’t himself and scored just 22 on 7-for-19 shooting, which is Chicago struggled so much in the 2nd half. The Bulls were also outrebounded 44-36 and the absence of Nikola Vucevic is finally showing. Despite losing, the optimism is still there for the Chicago Bulls fans. They’ve covered the spread in 11 of their last 16 games, however against the Nuggets they’ve had a poor run with just 1 win in the last 10 meetings against them.
Denver Nuggets
After a 10-point loss at Dallas, the Nuggets shocked everyone with their performance last night as the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers beat them 103-89 at Ball Arena. Nikola Jokic had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Will Barton added 19 points and 9 rebounds, but the Nuggets shot just 36% as a team and simply didn’t have enough in the tank against the Sixers. They also allowed Philly to shoot 50.6% from the field, that’s not something you’d expect from the best defensive team in the NBA this season. Tonight is a new opportunity though, they have a good record against the Bulls and at home they are 6-1 SU this season.
Denver has won 9 in a row against Chicago, the last time Bulls triumphed was back in the 2015-16 season. Since then it’s been all Denver wins and high scoring games. As much as I like what Chicago has done this season, it’s hard to go against such big trends. Jokic should have a big game with Chicago missing Vucevic here, I’m backing the Nuggets to bounce back after their loss last night.
Denver Nuggets – Chicago Bulls Odds
Denver Nuggets – Chicago Bulls Predictions
Denver Nuggets -4.5 Point Spread is available at -110 odds on bet365
I’ve touched briefly on the scoring when it comes to head-to-head meetings between these two teams earlier. Their last 10 games have averaged 224.4 points with the over landing 8 times during that stretch. Games played in Denver have also been productive point-wise with the last 5 going over the total. In those games Denver has shot the ball a bit better with 49% compared to 46% by the Bulls. This season the Nuggets average 104.1 points per game, while Chicago is at 106.5 per game on the road. Despite playing at the slowest pace in the NBA, the Nuggets have allowed 103 and 111 points in their last two outings. Something is off with their defense, so it’s going to be tough keeping the score down against such an offensively talented team like the Bulls. They should have enough to outscore them though, so let’s back the over in this game.
Over 211.5 Total Points is available at -110 odds on bet365
