The Chicago Bulls will travel to the US Airways Center to play the Phoenix Suns. The game starts at 10:30 pm ET on Wednesday, Nov. 18 and will air on ESP, WGN and FAZ.
The Suns easily got past the Lakers 120-101 on Monday. Phoenix was led by Brandon Knight, who recorded his first triple-double on the season. He dominated, registering 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds. The Bulls, meanwhile, are coming off a 96-95 win over the Pacers on Monday. Derrick Rose shot 9-for-18 and led in scoring with 23 points.
Second-chance opportunities are projected to be few and far between for the Bulls in this contest. They rank 26th in the NBA in offensive rebounding (offensive rebound percentage of 19.3%), while Phoenix is second-best in the league on the defensive backboards (defensive rebound percentage of 80.7%).
The Suns are favored by a slight two-point margin in their matchup against Chicago. The matchup currently has a 200-point Over/Under (O/U). The Suns look to build on their records of 6-4 Straight Up (SU) and 7-3 Against The Spread (ATS). The Suns come into the game with the league’s third-ranked home scoring offense, averaging 108.3 points per game on their own court. Phoenix is excellent from the perimeter, shooting a superb .377 from three-point range. An area where the Suns are particularly strong is defensive rebounding where they average 36.9 defensive rebounds per game, fourth in the NBA.
On the other side, the Bulls head into the game with records of 3-7 ATS and 7-3 SU. The Bulls have established a reputation of cleaning up the defensive glass with an NBA-best 38.7 defensive rebounds per game.
The Suns and the Bulls will be facing off in their first head-to-head contest of the season. When they last met the Bulls were winners, moving their SU record against the Suns to 7-3 in their last 10 head-to-head meetings. The Bulls also hold the advantage ATS with a record of 6-4.
Predictions: SU Winner – Pho, ATS Winner – Chi, O/U – Over
Notes
Phoenix is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix’s last 6 games.
Phoenix is 7-14 SU in its last 21 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Phoenix’s last 19 games at home.
Phoenix is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home.
Phoenix is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games when playing Chicago.
Phoenix is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Chicago.
Phoenix is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Chicago.
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Phoenix’s last 9 games when playing at home against Chicago.
Chicago ranks 14th in points per game with 100.9, while Phoenix ranks 15th in points allowed with an average of 100.2 given up.
Phoenix has allowed an average of 98.0 points per home game this season. Chicago averages 106.2 points per away game, placing the team fourth in scoring.
The Phoenix Suns are undefeated at 4-0 when they allow fewer than 100 points, while the Chicago Bulls are 3-2 when they don’t reach the century mark.
When allowing 100 or more points in a game, the Suns are just 2-4 this season. Chicago is a winning 4-1 when it reaches the century mark.
The Bulls have a defensive rating of 97.2, fifth-best in the NBA. The Suns also rank in the top half of the league for their offensive rating of 101.8 (ranked 12th).
On average, Phoenix has 103.9 possessions per game and scores 1.018 points on each possession. Chicago has both fewer possessions (102.0) and scores fewer points during those possessions (.989).
The Phoenix Suns have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking ninth in the league with an EFF% of 50.0%. When their opponents record a similar or higher EFF%, the Chicago Bulls are winless with a 0-1 record.
On average, the Chicago Bulls make 22.1 assists per game and the Phoenix Suns make 19.4. Chicago is ranked 10th, while Phoenix is ranked 24th.
Chicago, the third-ranked team in terms of blocking, makes an average of 6.7 blocks per game. Phoenix ranks lower at 27th with 3.5.
The Phoenix Suns are among the best offensive rebounding teams in the NBA at eighth. However, the Chicago Bulls are the top-ranked defensive rebounding team.
Making 9.1 steals per game, Phoenix is ranked seventh in the NBA. Chicago has a winning 2-1 record when it allows at least 9 steals.
