The San Antonio Spurs (38-23) play the visiting Chicago Bulls (39-24) at the AT&T Center. The game gets underway at 1:00 pm ET on Sunday, Mar. 8 and will air on ABC.
The Spurs were victorious over the Nuggets 120-111 on Friday. Tony Parker had 24 points, seven assists, and three rebounds for San Antonio. The Bulls, meanwhile, are coming off a 98-84 loss to the Pacers on Friday. Joakim Noah played well for Chicago, recording four points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds.
Over the last five games, Kawhi Leonard has really been playing well for the Spurs. During that stretch, he has averaged 19.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.4 steals, 1.8 blocks, and 1.0 three-pointer.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Bulls won the first game 104-81. Derrick Rose was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points.
Oddsmakers have deemed this game an even matchup and the Over/Under (O/U) is unavailable at the moment. The Spurs are attempting to build on their records of 38-23 Straight Up (SU) and 26-33-2 Against The Spread (ATS). They have gone 16-5 SU and 9-12 ATS against teams from the Eastern Conference.
On the other side, Chicago has a SU record of 39-24 and an ATS record of 29-34. In Western Conference games, Chicago has gone 17-10 SU and 13-14 ATS. The Bulls are shooting lights out from the foul line so far, with a .785 free throw percentage that ranks second in the NBA. Switching gears to Chicago’s defense, it averages 6.2 blocks per game, good for tops in the league.
Following the Bulls’ latest win over San Antonio, their SU record rises to 6-4 over the Spurs in the last 10 games. Additionally, the Bulls lead the matchup ATS with a record of 6-4. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Chicago held the edge in all three of these categories once in the last 10 meetings. San Antonio never did so in those games.
Predictions: SU Winner – CHI, ATS Winner – CHI
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of San Antonio’s last 12 games.
San Antonio is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games.
San Antonio is 5-12-1 ATS in its last 18 games.
San Antonio is 2-5-1 ATS in its last 8 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Antonio’s last 6 games at home.
San Antonio is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of San Antonio’s last 14 games when playing Chicago.
San Antonio is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games when playing Chicago.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of San Antonio’s last 5 games when playing at home against Chicago.
Ranked 11th, San Antonio scores 101.1 points per game. On the other hand, Chicago gives up 98.5 and also ranks 11th (in points allowed).
Chicago has allowed an average of 97.5 points per away game this season. San Antonio averages 105.1 points per home game, placing the team fifth in scoring.
In games where they allow fewer than 100 points, the San Antonio Spurs are a superb 27-9. In games where they fail to hit triple digits, the Chicago Bulls have a poor record of 11-17.
When the San Antonio Spurs allow at least 100 points they are 11-14, while the Chicago Bulls are 28-7 when they register triple digits.
San Antonio’s offense and Chicago’s defense both rank 12th this season. San Antonio has an offensive rating of 103.7 and Chicago has a defensive rating of 101.8.
San Antonio averages 97.5 possessions per game, scoring 1.037 points on each possession. While Chicago averages fewer possessions per game with 96.7, the team scores more points per possession with 1.044.
San Antonio is among the top-ranked teams based on its average effective field goal percentage of 50.6% (ranked eighth in the NBA). Chicago is a poor 6-12 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, the San Antonio Spurs make 24.0 assists per game and the Chicago Bulls make 21.7. San Antonio is ranked sixth, while Chicago is ranked 14th.
Among all teams, Chicago is the best at blocking, registering an average of 6.2 per game. San Antonio ranks slightly lower in total blocks, at seventh (5.5 per game).
The San Antonio Spurs rank 26th in offensive rebounding, while the Chicago Bulls rank seventh in defensive rebounding.
The San Antonio Spurs make an average of 7.7 steals per game. When the Chicago Bulls allow 7 or more steals, they are a winning 27-14.
