The Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls find themselves in the play-in tournament once again after partaking in the bracket a year ago, although the Hawks were in the 7-8 matchup last year while the Bulls were the road team in the 9-10 game. In this year’s tournament, the Bulls serve as the hosts for the 9-10 encounter. The winner will meet the loser of Heat-76ers Friday for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s a look at some of the best player prop opportunities for bettors to target in this contest, with odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Trae Young over 10.5 assists (-112)
The star point guard missed more than a month dealing with a torn ligament in his finger but should see his usual workload in Wednesday’s game. Young has gone over this mark twice in the three games he’s been back for, and averaged 10.8 assists per game this season. In two meetings against the Bulls, he went over this mark both times. Even though the Hawks are missing some rotation players, I think Young finds a way to set up his teammates enough to get over this mark.
DeMar DeRozan over 29.5 points (-112)
DeRozan has been on a bit of a scoring tear lately, averaging 29.6 points per game over the last 10 contests on 50.5% shooting. The veteran has become the de facto point guard for the Bulls this season and although the results have been mixed, DeRozan can still get clutch buckets. He went under this total in two of the three games against the Hawks this season but his recent scoring surge has me believing he can go over this mark Wednesday.
Bogdan Bogdanovic over 2.5 3-pointers (-162)
Bogdanovic went over this line twice in the three meetings against Chicago, and has a favorable matchup here. The Bulls ranked 25th in opponent three-point percentage after the All-Star break, so they’re vulnerable in this spot. Even though Young coming back hurts his usage, Bogdanovic should still see good minutes with Saddiq Bey and Jalen Johnson both out. He’s shooting just 36.2% from deep over the last six games but has gone over this mark four times due to heavy volume. I think he maintains that level of usage and it’ll help him go over this line.
Nikola Vucevic under 11.5 rebounds (+100)
Vucevic went under this line once in the two games he was active against the Hawks, although that did come at exactly 11 boards. The Bulls big man has logged 11 boards in each of the last two regular season games but that’s part of a seven-game stretch where he’s gone under this line five times. Even though the Hawks struggle to contain opponents on the glass and won’t have Onyeka Okongwu, I think Vucevic is held in check a bit and goes under this line.