The Chicago Bulls play host to the Toronto Raptors at the United Center on Wednesday night.
The Toronto Raptors have been in a rut as they’ve lost five of their last eight games, but they will be eager to build some momentum after taking down the red-hot Hornets in a 125-113 home win last night. Gary Trent Jr. led the team with 32 points on 11 of 21 shooting, OG Anunoby scored 24 points on eight of 14 shooting, while Pascal Siakam racked up 24 points with nine rebounds and 12 assists. As a team, the Raptors shot 52 percent from the field and 16 of 34 from the 3-point line as they hit the ground running and exploded for 39 points in the first quarter to take the early double-digit lead, before going on another run in the third quarter to push the lead out to 22 points which allowed them to rest their starters early.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls have been in a real slump as they’ve lost six of their past eight games, but they will be aiming to build some momentum after sneaking past the Thunder in a much-needed 111-110 road win on Monday. Nikola Vucevic led the team with 26 points with 15 rebounds and three blocks, Ayo Dosunmu added 24 points with eight assists while Zach LaVine chipped in with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. As a team, the Bulls shot 46 percent from the field and 15 of 39 from the 3-point line as they dominated from the start and built a 28-point lead which proved to be just enough in the end as the Thunder cut the lead to just one point with 14.8 seconds remaining.
Looking at the betting trends, the Raptors are 6-0 ATS in their last six games playing on zero days’ rest, 16-5 ATS in their last 21 games against a team with a winning record and 14-5 ATS in their last 19 games overall.
Head to head, the over 17-8 in the last 25 meetings overall and the Raptors are 7-20 ATS in the last 27 meetings overall.
The Raptors will again be without Goran Dragic and David Johnson, while Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes are listed as day to day. The Bulls will be depleted once again as Lonzo Ball. Derrick Jones Jr. and Alex Caruso are all out while Tyler Cook is listed as questionable. The Raptors have been well below their best lately, but they looked good in last night’s win over the Hornets and they represent decent value as the underdogs in this spot. I want to side with the Bulls at home, but they’re just too banged up at the moment, so I’m sticking with the Raptors to pull off the upset in this spot.