Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Thunder 12/18/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-18 20:00:00 EDT
The Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder meet Friday in NBA preseason action at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Chicago Bulls look for a third straight win to end the preseason with a 3-1 record. The Chicago Bulls are averaging 110.7 points on 45.2 percent shooting and allowing 106.3 points on 38.9 percent shooting. Coby White is averaging 17.5 points and 5.5 assists while Zach LaVine is averaging 17.5 points and six rebounds. Patrick Williams is the third double-digit scorer and Noah Vonleh is grabbing eight rebounds. The Chicago Bulls are shooting 33.6 percent from beyond the arc and 70.3 percent from the free thitem line. The Chicago Bulls are allowing 35.3 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 58 rebounds per game.
The Oklahoma City Thunder look for a win to end the preseason with a 2-1 record. The Oklahoma City Thunder are averaging 121 points on 48.9 percent shooting and allowing 116 points on 45.7 percent shooting. Mike Muscala is averaging 18 points and one assist while Theo Maledon is averaging 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. Al Horford is the third double-digit scorer and Frank Jackson is dishing 1.5 assists. The Oklahoma City Thunder are shooting 54.8 percent from beyond the arc and 90 percent from the free thitem line. The Oklahoma City Thunder are allowing 36.6 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 58 rebounds per game.
The Bulls are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 road games and 0-7 ATS in their last 7 Friday games. The Thunder are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 home games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Oklahoma City and 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
The Chicago Bulls are one of those young teams that has playing time open, and they’re taking the preseason serious, especially on the defensive side where they’re allowing just 38.9 percent shooting from the field. The Oklahoma City Thunder just got smoked by the Bulls their last time out, and that includes shooting just 38.1 percent from the field. I’ll lay the bucket with the Bulls with the way they’re playing.
