Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls 12/23/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-23 20:00:00 EDT
The Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls meet Wednesday in NBA action at the United Center.
The Atlanta Hawks haven’t played a game since March 11, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this club looks. On paper, the Hawks are the most improved team in the league, as they added Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo and Danilo Gallinari. You pair those proven vets with young stars in John Collins and Trae Young, and the Hawks have to like their chances to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season. However, the Hawks are still a fairly young roster overall and it’s going to be interesting to see how guys respond to the increased expectations. The Hawks struggled in the preseason and will have to hit the ground running if they’re going to sneak into the playoffs in a shorter regular season.
The Chicago Bulls haven’t played since March 10, so it’s going to be odd to see what they look like after such a long layoff. The Bulls return pretty much the same roster as last season, but they have a new coach coach in Billy Donovan. We just saw Donovan make magic happen with the OKC Thunder, and now he has a similar team in the Bulls given the youth. The progress of Coby White, Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. will go a long way to determining how successful the Bulls can be this season. The Bulls have the nucleus to be a respectable team in the East, but the depth will determine just how far this team can go in a short season.
The Hawks are 8-21 ATS in their last 29 road games and 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Bulls are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games. The over is 19-8 in Hawks last 27 overall. The under is 4-1 in Bulls last 5 overall. The Hawks are 2-8 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
The Chicago Bulls are a fiesty team, but they still lack depth and it may take some time to adjust to a new voice at head coach. The Atlanta Hawks are loaded with talent and should hit the ground running with all the additions they made this offseason. It may take some time to get a feel for both of these clubs, but the Hawks are the better team on paper. I’ll lay the bucket with the road team.
