NBA Handicapping – Chicago Bulls vs Orlando Magic
The big question for the Bulls heading here, is whether or not leading scorer Derrick Rose will be ready for the team’s upcoming road matchup with the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Date/Time: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, January 6, 2012
Venue: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Broadcast: TNT
Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
Rose arrived in Orlando on Thursday and headed straight to the visitor’s locker room to receive treatment for a bruised left elbow he suffered from banging it on the court after falling off balance on a fairly benign foul from Damien Wilkins late in the Bulls’ 99-83 victory over the Pistons on Wednesday.
Carlos Boozer scored 19 points and Rose had 17 points and 10 assists in that oneas the Bulls (6-1) have taken command of first place in the Central Division and are now 1.5 games up on second place Indiana.
That win makes it five straight for Chicago who set the tone early by limiting the Pistons to 6-of-26 shooting in the first quarter. Detroit finished at 40.9 percent for the game while Chicago never trailed and led by as many as 18 in the first half. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
As for Orlando (5-2), they are battling it out with Miami in the Southeast, and are coming off a huge 103-85 thumping of the Wizards on Wednesday night.
Dwight Howard fueled the charge and exploded for 28 points and 20 rebounds en route to manhandling Washington all game long while hitting 11 of 14 field-goal attempts and posting his second 20-point, 20-rebound performance of the season.
The bigger story in this matchup, if Rose does play, will be the fact that Howard has knocked him out of two games, including a March 11, 2010 contest at Orlando. Rose then missed the next four games with a sprained left wrist, his longest absence in three seasons.
Free Pick: Orlando —With Rose, the Bulls have a shot at matching the offensive power of Howard, but without him I am afraid Luol Deng and Boozer may not.
Combine that with Howards’s 16 rebounds and nearly 3 blocks per game to the Bull’s Joakim Noah’s 7.6 rebounds and 1 BPG, and this seems like a good recipe for a big win at home for Orlando.
