Chicago Bulls (38-42) vs. Dallas Mavericks (38-42)
April 7, 2023 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: Dallas Mavericks -9.5; Over/Under: +232
(Get latest betting odds)
The Chicago Bulls pay a visit to the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center on Friday night.
The Chicago Bulls have been in decent shape as they’ve split their last eight games, but they will be looking to avoid a third straight defeat here after getting beaten by the Bucks in a 105-92 road loss on Wednesday. Nikola Vucevic led the team with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, Coby White added 14 points off the bench while Zach LaVine chipped in with 13 points and seven assists. As a team, the Bulls shot 43 percent from the field and 11 of 33 from the 3-point line as they worked their way back from a slow start take the lead into halftime, only to let their hard work go to waste in the fourth quarter where they scored just 16 points to allow the Bucks off the hook.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks have been in a slump as they’ve lost seven of their last nine games overall, but they will be looking to stay hot in this one after sneaking past the Kings in a 123-119 win on Wednesday. Kyrie Irving led the team with 31 points and eight assists, Luka Doncic led the team with 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Tim Hardaway Jr. chipped in with 24 points. As a team, the Mavericks shot 49 percent from the field and 20 of 44 from the 3-point line as they looked to be in trouble when they leaked 44 points in the second quarter to fall into a 13-point deficit, before they flipped the script and dominated the second half by 63-48 to pull off a much-needed comeback victory at home.
Looking at the betting trends, the Bulls are 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight road games, 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games against a team with a losing record and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 road games against a team with a winning home record. The Mavericks are 1-5 ATS in their last six home games, 9-23-1 ATS in their last 33 games against a team with a losing record and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall.
Head to head, the Bulls are 9-4-1 ATS in the last 14 meetings in Dallas and the Bulls are 5-1-1 ATS in the last seven meetings overall.
The Bulls are shorthanded again as they are keeping eyes on Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso who are all questionable, while the Mavericks don’t have a single player listed on the injury report. The Bulls come into this matchup as the team in better recent form, but it’s going to be tough to hang with the Mavericks without their best scorers. The line is quite hefty, but I think the Mavericks get the much-needed win behind big games from Doncic and Irving.
