An Eastern Conference battle between the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers will be taking place to tip off the nine-game NBA slate.
This is the third of four matchups between these two teams this season. The Pacers have come out on top in both games thus far. Indiana tallied a 103-101 win in Chicago for the first game, and a 120-105 victory back home, with both matchups taking place in December.
Looking at the odds for tonight’s game, the Bulls are 2.5-point favorites and hold -135 odds on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Pacers are +114 underdogs with the game total set at 235.5 points.
This article will look at a preview and prediction for the Wednesday night matchup.
Bulls at Pacers Preview
The Chicago Bulls got off to a red-hot start to the season, but have slipped to 23-23 and sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. They suffered a loss to the Lakers in their last game, which interrupted a four-game winning streak. On the season, Chicago is 24-22 against the spread, and the game total has gone under in 25 of its 46 games played.
The Bulls are scoring 117.9 points per game, which ranks seventh in the NBA. They rank 13th in offensive rating, eighth in field-goal percentage, ninth in three-point percentage and sixth in pace. Defensively, opponents are scoring 119.9 points per game against Chicago, which ranks 26th in the league. The team ranks 24th in defensive rating, 21st in opponent field-goal percentage, 24th in opponent three-point percentage and forces turnovers at the second-worst rate in the NBA.
Zach Collins, Noa Essengue, Tre Jones, Yuki Kawamura and Emanuel Miller will each be sidelined for the Bulls tonight. Coby White headlines the production with 19.0 points, 4.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds. Josh Giddey adds 18.8 points, 8.8 assists and 8.7 rebounds per game. Ayo Dosunmu continues to light it up from the perimeter, shooting 45.3% on three-point attempts en route to his 14.5 points and 3.4 assists per game averages. Nikola Vucevic, Matas Buzelis, Kevin Huerter and Jalen Smith round out most of the notable rotation.
It has not been the season the Indiana Pacers hoped for after falling just one win short of being crowned NBA champions last year. With Tyrese Haliburton continuing to recover from his Achilles tear, Indiana has limped to an 11-36 start to the season, which is the worst record in the NBA. Two of these wins came against this Bulls team, and it also produced a shocking upset over the defending champion Thunder in Oklahoma City on Friday. But the Pacers are 23-24 against the spread on the season overall, and the game total has gone under in 29 of their 47 games played.
As a team, the Pacers rank 29th in scoring with 110.2 points per game. They rank dead last in offensive rating, last in team field-goal percentage, 27th in three-point percentage and 10th in pace. Defensively, the Pacers are allowing 118.5 points per game, which ranks 24th in the league. They rank 21st in defensive rating, 26th in field-goal percentage allowed, third in three-point attempts allowed and third in opponent three-point percentage.
In addition to Haliburton, Obi Toppin will miss tonight’s game, and Jarace Walker is listed as questionable. Pascal Siakam has done his best to keep this team afloat, posting averages of 23.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Bennedict Mathurin adds 17.7 points and 5.4 rebounds, while Andrew Nembhard pours in 17.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Aaron Nesmith scores 13.5 points of his own, while T.J. McConnell, Jay Huff and Quenton Jackson also play key roles in the rotation.
Bulls at Pacers Prediction, Best Bet
The Indiana Pacers have played dreadful basketball for the bulk of the season, and it is a bit surprising they are 2-0 against this Bulls team. No member of the Bulls scored more than 17 points in the first matchup between these two teams in the first game, while the Pacers shot an uncharacteristic 54% from the field and 46% on three-point attempts in the second game.
Even still, the Bulls out-rebounded the Pacers 46-35 in the second matchup and out-scored them on the fast break 23-8 in the first matchup. Coby White also missed the second matchup. Chicago has plenty of problems of its own, but it is the better team compared to this beat-up Pacers roster and will be looking to take full advantage of the matchup tonight. The Bulls fought themselves right back in the play-in mix, where every victory will matter for the remainder of the year. They are currently a half-game behind the Magic for the eighth seed and hold a one-game lead over the Hawks for the 10th seed, with the surging Hornets making a push of their own behind them.
Count on a focused effort from this Bulls team to get a different result against a team they should be clearly better than. This is also the first game following a grueling five-game road trip for Indiana, in which it dropped four of its matchups. Chicago has shown a solid resiliency to bounce back from losses this year and is inching back to full health. Except its up-tempo offense to be the difference in this game, with Indiana lacking the necessary firepower to match the scoring output.
The Bulls have covered the spread in four of their last five games, while Indiana is 1-4 ATS across its past five. Expect Chicago to clean up its mistakes from the previous matchups with this Pacers team and find its way to a win by over the 2.5-point margin tonight. The Bulls’ issues in the past matchup have largely been self-inflicted, so expect a bit more urgency against an inferior opponent tonight.
