NBA Betting Insider – Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Wednesday, January 20 — 10:30 PM ET
Basketball Online Sports Betting Odds: L.A. CLIPPERS -3, Total 197
Chicago got cold the other night (Monday) against Golden State, but there is no mistaking that the Bulls have turned the corner a little since blowing a 35-point lead against Sacramento back on December 21.
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They have won four of the last five and eight of the last 12, and talk about firing Vinny Del Negro has quieted down a bit.
At the same time, Chicago has gotten back into the thick of the playoff race. The team has gotten a shot in the arm in the middle, as Joakim Noah is second in the NBA in rebounding and is also among the league’s top shot-blockers. Still, there is not a strong inside offensive presence for the Bulls, and that catches up to them against the better teams.
Here are some of the NBA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
CHI has covered nine of its last 12 games
CHI has won four of its last five games SU
CHI has covered four of its last five road games
CHI has lost 11 of its last 13 road games SU
CHI has played four of its last six road games UNDER the total
LA has covered nine of its last 11 games
LA has lost four of its last five games SU
LA has played its last five games OVER the total
LA has covered its last eight home games
LA has won seven of its last eight home games SU 
LA has played 13 of its last 17 home games UNDER the total
The Clippers are not one of the better teams, but they are in about the same boat as the Bulls. The bad news for the Clippers is, with a record under .500, they’re going to have no chance to challenge for the playoffs in the West, where eleven teams have winning marks.
The Clippers have shot better than their opponents, and have out-rebounded them at home as well. They possess a +8 turnover ratio per game, but they are substandard when it comes to making their free throws and are not particularly proficient from three-point range (only five per contest).
Now the head-to-head trends as they relate to this matchup:
LA has won 13 of the last 18 meetings SU
LA has won six of the last nine meetings SU as the home team
Four of the last five meetings in Los Angeles have gone UNDER the total
CHI has had the shooting edge in four of the last six meetings
CHI has had the rebounding edge in four of the last five meetings
LA has made more three-pointers in four of the last six meetings
The Clippers found out last week that Blake Griffin isn’t going to be able to play for them at all in his rookie season. That hasn’t been all that tragic because there is a talented rotation, featuring people like Eric Gordon (17.4 ppg), Al Thornton (11.6 ppg), Marcus Camby (11.6 rpg) and Baron Davis (16.2 ppg). Of course, the key guy is Chris Kaman, the center who deserves an All-Star nod and who came back to the lineup strong on Monday with 22 points and seven rebounds against New Jersey. As long as the Clippers have him in the middle, playing alongside Camby, they can play defense AND offense in the paint.
Los Angeles have been tough to beat at home lately. The Clippers have covered their last eight games as the home team at the Staples Center (the Lakers did starch them in a visiting effort) and they have won seven of them straight-up. That would be enough of a challenge for Chicago, which has lost 14 of its 18 road games, but the Bulls have been hit by the flu bug, which probably contributed to that 17-point loss at Oakland two nights ago. John Salmons was affected to the point where he had to spend a night in the hospital; Kirk Hinrich, Derrick Rose and Luol Deng are just a few of the others who are known to have been slowed. It is only two days later, do recovery may be difficult.
We’re going to lay the points with the Clippers, the reasonable three-point favorite.
OUR PLAY: L.A. CLIPPERS -3 ***
