Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls Prediction, NBA Odds
The Bulls are playing some of their best basketball of the season and they now sit solidly in a play-in tournament spot following a 129-119 win in Denver on Monday. L.A. just visited Indiana on Wednesday, with a last-second bucket giving the Lakers a 120-119 victory.
LeBron James and co. are 2.5-point favourites to win on the NBA odds, with the total pegged at 234.5.
Lakers vs. Bulls NBA Betting Odds
These two premier NBA franchises met last Saturday in L.A, with Chicago rolling to a 146-115 blowout victory. The shootout isn’t overly surprising given these teams have hit the Over in eight of the last 10 head-to-heads.
It could be tough sledding for the Lakers on Thursday. Not only are they playing the second half of a back-to-back, but they’ve also lost five of their last seven games against the Bulls.
Chicago, on the other hand, is riding high after winning eight of their last 10 games. The Bulls are now safely in a play-in spot with a 6.5-game cushion.
L.A.’s 40-31-1 record against the spread this season beats out Chicago at 38-33-1 ATS, but you might want to fade the Purple and Gold on Thursday. The Lakers have failed to cover the spread in eight straight games against Eastern Conference opponents and they’re 1-8 ATS in their last nine games against the Central Division.
Meanwhile, the Bulls are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 overall and 7-1 ATS in their last eight against Western opponents.
Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James didn’t have his best performance on Wednesday, but he was clutch when it counted, with his buzzer-beater tip-in sealing a one-point win. James barely extended his NBA-record streak of 10 or more points to 1,283 games. He was 0-for-6 with just three points over the first three quarters, eventually finishing the night with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
Luka Doncic was strong against the Pacers, dropping a game-high 34 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists. Doncic has hit the 30-point mark in nine of 12 games this month, including four straight.
One thing the Lakers will need to clean up is turnovers. L.A. had 21 turnovers in the first meeting against Chicago, which the Bulls turned into 27 points. It was a bit of a surprise given the Lakers average the 12th-fewest turnovers per game in the NBA.
Chicago Bulls
Coby White has been on an absolute tear over Chicago’s three-game win streak, scoring 35 points against Sacramento, 36 points against the Lakers and 37 points against Denver. White is averaging almost 30 points per game this month while hitting his point total Over in nine of his last 10 games.
Josh Giddey has also performed for the Bulls, finishing Monday’s game against Denver with 26 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Giddey has hit two or more triples in four of his last five games while averaging 22.1 ppg in the month of March.
LAL
CHI