Chicago Bulls are coming from their first defeat in this season against Boston Celtics (1007:100). Bulls started that match poorly, trailing by 11 when the 1st quarter finished. They went on to reduce the margin to 3 in the 2nd quarter, but had a bad 3rd (26-18). The lead accumulated by Celtics by the end of 3rd quarter (11 points) was just too much for Bulls to come back, so the match ended in 107:100 for the home side. Butler led the scoring for Bulls with 23 points, followed by Mirotic (17 points) and Wade (15 points). Bulls shot 43.2% from the field and committed 19 turnovers.
Knicks cannot be proud of how this season is going so far. Winning only 1 match against Grizzlies (111:104) gives them a record of 0.250. They are coming into this match after 2 consecutive defeats against Pistons (102:89) and Rockets (99:118). It’s clear they need a lot of improvement in the defensive end of the floor. In each of the 4 matches they played, they have seen opponents score at least 102 points. Despite that, we can give them a praise for the match against Grizzlies. Knicks were behind by 17 points by the end of 2nd quarter, but managed to turn it around and win it by 7 points. In their recent defeat, Anthony had 21 points, followed by Lee (16 points) and Rose (16 points). Knick shot 43.5% from the field and committed 16 turnovers.
Verdict & Prediction
This will be tough match for Knicks, as Bulls are proving to be a strong team. Knicks are struggling on both ends of the floor, and let opponents score too much for their own good. Bulls are extremely good in rebounding the ball (1st in offensive rebounds and 3rd in defensive rebounds), whereas Knicks are one of the worst teams in that aspect. Bulls are clearly better team in this match-up, in addition they are better rested than visiting Knicks. Pick Bulls to get another win today and keep their record high.
Prediction: Chicago Bulls -7.00 points
Odds: 1.89 Pinnacle
