The Golden State Warriors close out a three game road trip with a visit to the United Center for a game against the Chicago Bulls on 10/29/18.
The Dubs have won four games in a row after their upset loss to the Nuggets last October 22. Meanwhile, the Bulls are coming off a win over the Atlanta Hawks- only their second win of the season.
The Warriors have rattled off four straight wins after getting upset by the Nuggets one week ago. On Sunday, the Warriors coasted to a 120-114 win over the Brooklyn Nets in a game that turned into a three point contest.
Golden State was comfortably ahead by 19 points but allowed the Nets to wax hot from behind the three point arc and cut the deficit to two points. Good thing for the Dubs, they have the ‘hottest’ player in the league right now in Stephen Curry. Curry scored 35 points on the night and made seven three pointers to break George Gervin’s all-time record with six straight games with at least five three pointers made in a game. Curry has now made at least five triples in seven consecutive games, and counting.
Like Curry, Kevin Durant continues to torch the baskets in the early season. KD scored 34 points for the Dubs, his third straight game with at least 30 points and at least 11 field goals made. However, Klay Thompson’s shooting woes continued as he shot just 1-5 from behind the arc to fall to 5-36 on the season. Thompson finished with 18 points but has yet to score at least 20 points this season.
The Chicago Bulls were happy to have Zach LaVine back to 100% this season. LaVine has been sensational for the Bulls, averaging a career best 29.3 points per game along with 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Not only is he putting up the numbers but he’s being shooting very well this season at 52.7% from the field and 39.5% from behind the three point arc. But LaVine’s fast start has gone for naught as injuries continue to pile up for the Bulls.
First was Lauri Markkanen, whose elbow injury should keep him out for a month. Then there was point guard Kris Dunn, who strained his MCL in his first game back. Dunn is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. And then just recently, there is Bobby Portis who also suffered an MCL strain. These key players are out, not just for this game but realistically until mid or late December. That’s terrible news for the Bulls really who are missing key scorers against a scoring machine like the Warriors.
Despite missing three key players, the Bulls waxed hot and outshot the Atlanta Hawks in their most recent game. The Bulls won the game 97-85 as they got 27 points from LaVine and 18 points from Jabari Parker. But against a Golden State team that ranks 4th in the league in scoring at 120.8 points per game, the Bulls may not have enough firepower to go toe to toe with them for 48 minutes.
The Bulls lead the all-time series between these teams at 84-70. But let’s filter the matchup to the last four seasons where the current core of the Golden State Warriors have won three out of the last four championships. Since the 2015 season, these teams have played a total of 8 times and the Warriors have won six times including three of four games in Chicago over that period.
Golden State is 12-1 SU in their last 13 games played and 6-1 SU in their last 7 games on the road. The Bulls are 2-8 SU in their last 10 games and 3-7 SU in their last 10 home games. Head to head, the Dubs are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games against the Bulls.
Let’s just forget the fact that the Warriors have won four in a row by an average winning margin of 19 points. Or that they have scored at least 120 points in their last four games. OR that Stephen Curry is making three pointers as if they were free throws. This game isn’t about the Warriors, really. It’s about the Chicago Bulls and all the personnel they are missing not just in this game but in the next month or so.
My heart breaks the more I write so I’ll just leave it here. Golden State is on fire and the Bulls are missing key players. The odds are too generous, really. We’re picking the Golden State Warriors to beat the Chicago Bulls on 10/29/18. At -800, that’s gotta be a sure win here but if you want to take a look at the other odds for this game, let’s talk about them.
The Warriors are 4-2 ATS against the Bulls but are 2-6-1 ATS in their last 9 games against the Bulls in Chicago. The Bulls are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games but 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games at home.
Golden State is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Monday games and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games versus Eastern Conference teams. The Bulls are 2-8-1 ATS in their last 11 games against teams from the Pacific Division and 0-7 ATS in their last 7 Monday games. Head to head, the Dubs are 2-6-1 ATS in their last 9 meetings in Chicago and the home team is 23-8-1 ATS in their last 32 meetings.
The Warriors beat the Bulls by just seven points the last time these teams met on January 17, 2018. Prior to that though, the previous four wins by the Dubs came by an average winning margin of 31.5 points, including 49 point blowout on November 24, 2017.If we look at the last 10 meetings between these teams where the Warriors won 7, the average scoring difference between these two teams is 12.60 points per game.
Again we go back to Chicago’s injury riddled line-up. Some quarters are even calling the Bulls to tank as early as now. We’ll see about that. But as far as this game is concerned, the Bulls certainly don’t have the firepower to hang around, unless of course the Dubs allow them to. The Warriors ‘toyed’ with Brooklyn and won by only six on Sunday. This is the second game of a back to back and I’m going to be honest. There is a chance the Dubs are just going to coast here, get the win and head home to Oakland. But I think they want to keep themselves sharp after the underwhelming six point win versus the Nets. Prediction: Warriors -11
The total has gone under in 14 out of the last 21 games of the Warriors and also under in 9 out of the Dubs last 13 games on the road. The under is 4-2 in the last 6 meetings between the Warriors and Bulls and the under is also 10-4 in the last 14 games between these teams in Chicago.
The Warriors have averaged 115.75 points against the Bulls since 2015. They’ve scored at least 110 point in six of the eight meetings between these teams since 2015. No question about the Warriors’ ability to put points on the scoreboard. But again, it’s not about the Dubs. It’s about the Bulls. They are averaging 108 points per game on the season but without Portis now, who’s going to pick up the slack? Prediction: Under 231
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