NBA Basketball Matchup: Chicago Bulls vs New York Knicks
Madison Square Garden will host the disappointing Knicks against the Chicago Bulls Thursday night. New York is just 2-8 in their last ten games.
8:00 PM EST on TNT
NBA Gambling Odds from BetDSI
NBA Betting Favorite: Bulls -3.5
Over/Under: 191
The Bulls have lost two of their last three as well, but those losses came against Miami and Philadelphia. Derrick Rose and the Bulls are favored here. Can the Knicks show some heart and play well on national television tonight?
The Bulls come into this one short-handed because of a couple key injuries. Richard Hamilton is out with a groin injury, while Luol Deng is out with a wrist injury. Derrick Rose will need to carry even more of the scoring load tonight. Rose is healthy once again, and he has scored 34 points or more in three of the team’s last four games.
Carlos Boozer started the season well, but he has cooled off of late. Boozer needs to do more now with Deng and Hamilton out of the lineup. The Bulls lead the league in offensive rebounding. Defensively, the Bulls allow opponents to score just 87.9 points per contest.
Mike D’Antoni is on a very hot seat right now.
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The Knicks simply aren’t playing up to their potential. Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony have both struggled mightily this season. Both of them currently have a career-low for a shooting percentage thus far this season.
The offense continues to go through long droughts and it seems there is little to no movement on the half court offensive sets. Tyson Chandler was a nice pickup for the team in the offseason. Chandler averages 11 points and ten boards per game.
The Knicks defense hasn’t been great, but that was expected. It is the offense that has been surprisingly bad.
It’s tough to pick the Knicks to win with the way they are playing right now. I think the best value here is the under since the Bulls defense should control the game.
Prediction: Bulls 96 Knicks 90
