Minnesota Timberwolves (29-26) vs. Chicago Bulls (34-21)
February 11, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Chicago Bulls -3.5; Over/Under: +238
(Get latest betting odds)
The Chicago Bulls play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the United Center on Friday night.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been in great shape as they’ve won nine of their past 13 games overall, but they will be looking to bounce back in this one after having their five-game win streak halted by the Kings in a 132-119 road loss on Wednesday. D’Angelo Russell led the team with 29 points and 10 assists, Anthony Edwards added 26 points while Karl-Anthony Towns tallied 21 points with seven rebounds and eight assists. As a team, the Timberwolves shot 44 percent from the field and 16 of 46 from the 3-point line as they squandered an early 13-point lead, before getting blown out in the fourth quarter by 33-18 as they couldn’t stop the Kings once their home crowd got involved. Malik Beasley had a forgettable night as he scored just six points on two of nine shooting off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls have been in decent shape as they’ve won six of their past 10 games overall and they will be aiming to stay hot after making light work of the Hornets in a 121-109 road win on Wednesday. DeMar DeRozan led the team with 36 points on 13 of 19 shooting, Zach LaVine added 27 points with seven rebounds and five assists while Nikola Vucevic chipped in with 18 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. As a team, the Bulls shot 56 percent from the field and 16 of 33 from the 3-point line, but this win was about their defense as they held the Hornets to just 16 points in the second quarter to take a 13-point lead into halftime, before going on another run in the third quarter to push the margin out to 21 points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Timberwolves are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 road games, 5-0 ATS in their last five games following a loss of more than 10 points and 5-1 ATS in their last six games overall. The Bulls are 5-1 ATS in their last six home games and 5-2 ATS in their last seven games overall.
Head to head, the over is 4-1 in the last five meetings overall and the Timberwolves are 9-3 ATS in the last 12 meetings overall.
The Timberwolves could be seriously shorthanded in this one as D’Angelo Russell, Naz Reid, Anthony Edwards, Taurean Prince, Josh Okogie and Patrick Beverley are all listed as questionable, while the Bulls are missing Lonzo Ball, Patrick Williams and Derrick Jones Jr. The Timberwolves have been playing some of their best basketball of the season and they will be eager to bounce back from their latest loss, but it’s hard to know what you’re going to get from them with so many players on the injury report. The Bulls have been building nicely and I think they’re good enough to take advantage of a depleted Timberwolves lineup in this spot.
