New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls betting tips and predictions for Thursday’s NBA game. After losing the 1st meeting of the season by 16 points, the New Orleans Pelicans look to get revenge on the Chicago Bulls as the two teams square off at the Smoothie King Center tonight. Read on for all our free predictions and betting tips.
- Start date: 24.03.2022 at 08:00 PM
- Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans’ ambitions of doing something special in this year’s playoffs took a hit after it was announced that Zion Williamson has been shut down for the season and will attempt to make his comeback next year.
That’s a real shame as this team has the potential to be a tricky opponent with so much offensive firepower at their disposal. Right now they are in a battle with the Lakers for the 9th seed in the West, with a win tonight they can equal them in wins and losses, with a far more favourable schedule the rest of the way they should be able to finish above them.
They’ll need to pick it up though, over their last 9 games they’ve won just 3 of them and a big reason for that has been the absence of Brandon Ingram who is out with a hamstring injury.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls also have injury worries ahead of tonight’s game as both DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are questionable with knee and groin injuries. Lonzo Ball remains sidelined as his comeback has suffered a setback, so it’s questionable we might see him back even in the playoffs.
The Bulls have slowed down significantly, they’ve covered the spread only twice in their last 12 games and are 0-8 ATS in their last 8 games on the road. It’ll be a tough game against the Pelicans, they haven’t had much luck against them recently winning just 3 of their last 9 meetings.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers just 1 game behind them for the 5th seed in the standings, every win is crucial now for the remaining 10 or so games of the regular season.
I’d love to go with the Bulls here, but this is a golden opportunity for the Pelicans to finally leap over the Lakers in the standings. They have the advantage at the center position and with the Bulls struggling with injuries, it could be a long night for them. Back the Pelicans to cover.
New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls Predictions & Odds
I don’t expect much defence to be played here, the first meeting played in Chicago ended with 240 points scored. If we look at the last 10 head-to-head the over has cashed 8 times which is a good indicator of where things will go tonight. The two teams are averaging 233.5 points during that stretch and the over has also landed 5 times in the last 6 played in New Orleans.
Chicago’s defence has been very leaking over the past few games, they are giving up an average of 118 per game in their last 3 which isn’t ideal when you’re facing a team that’s putting up 114.7 per game over their last 3.
With both teams coming off losses, I expect them to ramp things up on the offensive end. They are both fresh having had the previous day off, so expect a high tempo approach from both teams here which will hopefully result in a similar score we saw in the first meeting of the season. Back the points.
