Sunday afternoon NBA and we will see the Los Angeles Clippers travel to the United Center to take on the Chicago Bulls. The game has a start time of 1:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ABC. Current Vegas betting odds have the Clippers listed as 2 point favorites, while the total is set at 197.
Analysis: The LA Clippers come off a big revenge game vs Memphis, in which they won 97-79. The Clippers have a solid 38-21 record on the year, but still they are 8.5 game behind division leading Golden State in the Pacific and if the playoffs started today they would be seeded 6th in the West. The Clipps have gone 5-13 ATS in their last 18 road games and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 vs. the Eastern Conference. The Clippers have been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 2nd in scoring (106.7 ppg), 2nd in shooting, 4th in 3 point shooting and 27th in FT shooting. Defensively the Clippers have been less than average, ranking 20th in points allowed (100.5 ppg), 14th in defensive FG% and 13th in 3 point defense.
The Chicago Bulls are dealing with adversity once again as they have lost Derick Rose for an undetermined amount of time. Most likely it will be for at least the rest of the regular season. The Bulls are 37-22 on the year and lead the Central Division by a half a game over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are surging. The Bulls have gone 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, but just 1-4 ATS the last 5 in the series. The Bulls have been a good offensive team this year, ranking 12th in scoring (101.5 ppg), 21st in shooting, 10th in 3 point shooting and 2nd in FT shooting. Defensively the Bulls have been decent this year, ranking 11th in points allowed (98.6 ppg), 10th in defensive FG% and 5th in 3 point defense.
Pick: Going with the under here. The Bulls offense has not been the same of late without Rose. The Bulls have averaged just 89.7 ppg in their last two games, while their defense has really stepped it up of late as they have allowed just 86 ppg over the same stretch and just 90.9 ppg in their last 9 games. The Clippers are also missing their superstar as Blake Griffin is out and they have scored just 96.3 ppg in their last 3 games, while they have started playing defense of late, allowing just 94.5 ppg in their last 4 games. The Bulls will slow this one down as a couple of struggling offenses will keep the scoring in the 180s here.
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Handicapping Tips: NBA Betting
Bryan Leonard and Steve Fezzik, from Pregame.com discuss some handicapping tips for betting the NBA.