The city of Chicago will host one of their legends, Michael Jordan, and his team from Charlotte, but the memories of the long-gone days will sting as this year’s version of the Bulls has nothing in common with the dynasty from the 90s. The Hornets are not on that level either, but are at least hoping to play in the postseason – to reach it, they absolutely have to beat poor teams like this one, at home or on the road.
Hornets at Bulls
Spread: Charlotte -7 (-110) at BetDSI Sportsbook
Total: o/u 197.5 points (-110)
Batum returns, but can’t save Hornets
Unlike with their next opposition, nurturing the young is not a top priority. Winning is, after the Hornets lost their fifth in a row, this time 115-107 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite the loss, the Hornets got some positive outlook going forward, a hope of things to come.
Nicolas Batum, back from six weeks out with a torn ligament in his left elbow made the season debut and did not miss a beat, playing 32 minutes and registering 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, plus six assists and five rebounds. More importantly, the Hornets offense looked much more in flow and versatile. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also joined the party with his best performance of the season – he scored the team- and season-high 22 points on a very efficient 10-of-14 night, all while shouldering most of the unenvious task of guarding LeBron James for his team. The Hornets connected on 41-of-86 of their field goal attempts but lost the game on another aspect of the game. Their outside shooting is much below what’s current NBA standard and thus what’s required – the Hornets had hit just 6 triples against a team that gives up many of the most valued shots, and on a high percentage. While one could see that coming, it’s rather disappointing to get outrebounded by a poor rebounding team. The Hornets allowed 16 offensive rebounds that resulted in 22 second-chance points. The losing coincidented with Howard’s production decline, and on Wednesday, he looked old and outdated – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 turnovers and 4 missed free throws before fouling out in 24 minutes. Clifford has stated that he’ll rely on their veterans over the tough stretch that lies ahead, but Howard is hurting them and should be replaced with Zeller sooner rather than later.
Following a must-win game in Chicago, the Hornets play Clippers, Minnesota, and Washington at home, before a rematch with the Cavaliers in Cleveland next Friday.
Place: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
Date/Time: Friday, November 17th, 2017. 8:00 PM ET
TV Coverage: WGN-TV, FSSE-C
The Bulls destroyed in OKC, sink to 2-10
Well, at least they don’t get to play the Thunder until the next season. After getting annihilated at home 69-101 at the end of October, the Bulls couldn’t do much better in Oklahoma, losing 79-92 on Wednesday night.
It was over before it began. Despite the Bulls pre-game interest of making up for a bad home loss, they were ice cold to start the game, scoring just 7 points in the opening quarter as they made just 2-of-16 from the field. They trailed by 24 at halftime and only the Thunder losing interest in the game (and shooting only 22 percent after the break) helped the Bulls not get crushed. Chicago shot 34.7 percent from the field, with only Markkanen, Valentine and G-League material Blakeney hitting more than three field goals in the game. Each of these three players had 3-of-6 shots made from beyond the arc and finished the game in double digits. The Bulls were missing guard Justin Holiday, on a personal leave, so coach Hoiberg experimented with some new starters. He used point guards Kris Dunn and Jerian Grant together in the backcourt and gave veteran Quincy Pondexter his first start at small forward. The results were poor, to say the least – Dunn, Grant and Pondexter combined to hit 2-of-20 shots, with Dunn going 1-for-11 in his initial Bulls start. Valentine replaced Grant for the second half.
Holiday is still on paternity leave, making him questionable for this game. Should be miss another game, it’s unclear what kind of units will the Bulls coaches try out. What it clear it that they already started caring about player evaluation more than the outcome of a single game.
Charlotte Hornets at Chicago Bulls Game Trends & Prediction
Charlotte couldn’t cover against the Cavaliers in the last game, but the Hornets have been much better at home this season. Their 1-5-1 away ATS record is nearing the freezing point. A look at total points doesn’t show any particular trends, but it’s no surprise that they’ve gone over the set line against the Cavs – for two reasons – Batum’s return, and, well, they played Cavs.
The Bulls are only 2-10 straight up, but entire market is well aware of their basketball level, and they have been helped by big spreads. In OKC, it was almost enough, as they lost ATS by half-a-point. Chicago is 6-6 against the spread overall, but are more predictable on the total points market. Their incapability to put the ball in the basket with regularity has led them to a 4-8 O/U record, with a perfect 0-5 balance at home.
Admi-Rank: The Bulls expectations are so low that not even blowout losses on the road can do much harm to their ranking. The Hornets are trending in the wrong direction, but it won’t go too far before they bounce back, as they are not far below an average NBA team.
Losing to the Bulls would be very bad for the Hornets, so they have to focus on this game with extra incentive to get a positive result. Their host aren’t interested in winning, it can only come as a by-product or a chance, as the Bulls lack talent and scoring to seriously threaten even a marginal playoff candidate in the East. With Batum and MKG back in the lineup, the Hornets will play better, and importantly for us, better than what’s expected at this point.
Of course, the spread set at 7 points is more a product of the Bulls low rating, so it doesn’t look all that appealing in this game. I have the Hornets at 5.5 point jolly, but intend not to consider the Bulls on any single digit handicap. However, there’s a bet to be had on the total points market where the odd setters seemed to ignore the Charlotte resurgent offense and have set too low of a line at 197.5. Of course, over is tedious with the Bulls, as they sometimes struggle to score, but the numbers are skewed after a big under in OKC and still show 202 as fair. Go with over total points and simply ignore the bad gut feeling that should be no part of your betting strategy.
My Pick: (no spread wager here)
Total: Over 197.5 points (-110)
