NBA Picks: The Chicago Bulls wrap up their long circus road trip as they visit the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. This will be the seventh game on what can only be termed a disappointing road trip. The team started great as they went into Los Angeles and upset the Clippers but their only other win before Friday’s game in Boston was in Utah. And the Bulls didn’t even cover that game as they won by just two points as a 3.5-point favorite. Let’s look at Sunday’s game and NBA predictions.
Bulls Still Dealing with Derrick Rose Injury Issues
Stop us if you have heard this one before, Derrick Rose is hurt. The Chicago point guard has been in and out of the lineup all season. His latest injury is to his left hamstring. He left Tuesday’s game against Denver in the first half and didn’t return.
“It wasn’t nothing like I’m limping or I pulled it or anything, it wasn’t any of that,” Rose said. “It was just that I wasn’t moving the way I wanted to while I was on the floor. So why push through it when I wasn’t able to affect the game the way I wanted to? I came in here and talked to (Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau) and we both agreed on just sitting out.”
The Bulls haven’t had Rose on the court that often in recent seasons. He played in just 12.2 percent of the team’s games last year, didn’t play at all in 2012-2013 and in 2011-2012 he played in just 59.1 percent of the games. It has been four years since he played a lot as he played in 98.8 percent of the team’s games in 2010-2011. This season he has played in just 46.7 percent of the games. The Bulls are clearly getting frustrated with Rose and his injury problems.
Nets 2-4 ATS at Home
The Nets have not been a good team this season as they lost eight of their first 13 games. They were just 2-4 ATS at home. The team is scoring just 100 points per game while allowing 101 per contest. Brook Lopez has become a major problem as he is not playing well. He is one of the worst centers in the league in terms of rim protection and the team isn’t good enough on offense even with him in the lineup. The starting lineup of Lopez, Garnett, Johnson, Bogdanovic and Williams has scored 100.4 points per 100 possessions, while giving up 106.1 points.
Game Notes
The Bulls have won six of the last ten in this series with the last three going under. The Bulls have also won six of the last ten in Brooklyn and covered seven of the last 10.
NBA Predictions
We’ll look for this game on Sunday to Go Under the Total.
