The NBA brings a small slate on Saturday with just five games on the schedule, but there are still a couple of quality matchups with some betting interest. The day gets started at 7 p.m. with an Eastern Conference contest between the Chicago Bulls (1-0) and Orlando Magic (1-1) which sees Josh Giddey and Nikola Vucevic battle it out against Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and offseason acquisition Desmond Bane. This one holds some intrigue, so strap in and read on.
Here’s a Bulls vs. Magic prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Saturday’s matchup.
Bulls vs. Magic prediction, preview
Chicago Bulls
These two Eastern Conference squads find themselves in some contrasting situations. On one side, the Bulls are working to just squeak into the playoffs after narrowly missing out with a Play-In Tournament loss last season, but the possibility of a rebuild also looms in the background not only as Nikola Vucevic continues to age, but especially after trading away Zach LaVine last year. Chicago has found itself firmly in the middle of the pack, which is arguably the worst place for an NBA team to be. They did beat the Detroit Pistons 115-111 to start the season on the backs of double-doubles from Josh Giddey and Vucevic, as well as a 21-point outing from Matas Buzelis, who’s positioned for a breakout campaign. That’s certainly encouraging, but the absence of Coby White (calf) means everyone else must step up as scorers while the guard remains sidelined. The outlook changes some when he returns after averaging 20.4 PPG last season, but tonight looks like a tough test without him.
Orlando Magic
Meanwhile, the Magic took a swing by shipping out significant draft capital to acquire Desmond Bane this past offseason. The move indicated a desire to add more high-end talent to compete in an Eastern Conference that’s devoid of a couple major names due to injury, thus leaving the landscape wide open for teams left intact to compete. The trio of he, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner form a very talented core that’s surrounded by quality role players like Wendell Carter Jr. and Jalen Suggs (now ruled out today due to injury management), though the bench is a smidge thin beyond Goga Bitadze, Tyus Jones and Jonathan Isaac. Tristan da Silva did post a pair of quality 15+ point games to start the campaign though, so he’s a name to monitor moving forward. Orlando beat the Miami Heat 125-121 to open the season before a close loss to the Atlanta Hawks last night, so while the campaign only just began, this team may have some slightly tired legs due to the back-to-back tonight.
Bulls vs. Magic pick, best bet
The Magic enter tonight’s contest as -6.5 favorites with -245 odds on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Bulls are listed at +200 odds on the Moneyline with a game total of 232.5 points.
It’s very early, so it’s a bit too soon to draw any major conclusions from just a one or two-game sample. Of course, there’s still rust to knock off as well following a long offseason, but there are a couple of areas we can look toward here. The Magic clearly have the two best players in this game in Banchero and Wagner, and while the former has come out cold to start the year with 17.5 PPG on 34.4% shooting from the field, the latter is already in midseason form with 25.5 PPG with efficient splits of 55.9% overall and 40.0% from three. The Bulls have some strong defenders in Isaac Okoro, Ayo Dosumnu and Patrick Williams, but the latter two come off the bench and the remainder of the lineup doesn’t exactly excel defensively. Josh Giddey looked quite good in his lone game with 19 points and 11 assists, but he himself may be on par as a talent with Bane.
While Vucevic likely posts a solid outing against former teammate Carter Jr. in the paint, Orlando’s starting five remain much better than that of Chicago and should comfortably win those minutes. The depth does raise some questions on both sides really, but the amount of talent for the Magic should show up and make the difference tonight. Were White healthy, this could be a more competitive game — without him though, I like Orlando to cover even on night two of a back-to-back.
