The Oklahoma City Thunder invade the United Center to do battle with the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday in NBA action. Let’s break down this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Oklahoma City Thunder Betting Preview

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be very optimistic about their chances this season after falling just short of the .500 mark with 40 wins in the regular season, all without the services of Chet Holmgren who could win the Rookie of the Year award. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has continued to improve and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Josh Giddey had a monster year to help get the Thunder into the playoffs. 

Chicago Bulls Betting Preview

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls interstingly finished with an identical record in a down season, winning 40 games, only to lose their second Play-In game to the Heat on the road. Lonzo Ball is still out with a left knee injury and the Bulls didn’t make enough moves in the offseason, so it’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to improve on last season’s record unless Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan or Nikola Vucevic have breakout years. 

Trends

Oklahoma City are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games. Oklahoma City are 8-4 SU in their last 12 games against Chicago. The total has gone OVER in 8 of Chicago’s last 12 games. Chicago are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games played in October. Chicago are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games played on a Wednesday.

Peter’s Pick

There’s certainly more to like about the young Thunder this season, especially if Holmgren or Giddey can have a big year, so it’s a little surprising that they’ve opened as underdogs in this spot. Yes, it’s the first game of the season and the Thunder are on the road, but the Thunder beat the Bulls in both meetings last season and they look even stronger this time out. This should be a close one, but I’m sticking with the young Thunder to kick off their season with a gritty road win here.