Chicago Bulls: What do betting odds say about playoff push?

Chicago Bulls fans have their eyes set on making a playoff appearance this season after an exciting trade deadline brought life to a passionate fanbase. There’s no doubt they’re one of the top eight teams in the eastern conference on paper but will they have enough time to prove that?

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the odds are not in their favor. Following a loss to the Atlanta Hawks (despite Zach LaVine’s offensive explosion), the sportsbook is favoring the Bulls missing out on the 2021 NBA Playoffs.

They are listed at -265 to miss the playoffs compared to +210 if you bet them to make the playoffs. An important note on this is that making the playoffs means advancing past the new play in games.

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The top six teams from each conference will lock up their playoff spot when the season ends. Meanwhile, the 7-10 seeds will have to play games to earn the final two playoff seeds. If you’re looking to learn about how the play in games work and what must be done this does a good job explaining everything.

So, what does this say? First and foremost it shows that the oddsmakers don’t love the Bulls chances in that play in tournament if they wind up in it. It seems most likely they will be in it at this point, which is why it’s interesting to see the odds favoring them not making it to the real playoffs.

If the season ended today they’d be the final play in seed. The other teams would be the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. The Celtics most certainly should be ahead of the Bulls but who is the other team being valued in that situation?

Let’s say they finish in their current standings. The Celtics would play the Knicks with the winner becoming the 7th seed in the eastern conference playoffs. Most would favor the Celtics, so they move on.

The Bulls would then play the Pacers with the winner of that game playing the Knicks for the final playoff spot. The Pacers have issues right now and it’s tough to imagine them beating the Bulls in a must-win game if Chicago is at full health.

It seems as if the Knicks are the team that oddsmakers are favoring over the Bulls in that situation. They are certainly favoring them to make the playoffs in general over the Bulls, as they are +110 to get into the actual playoffs.

The biggest difference between the teams is the Knicks are in a much better spot to earn their playoff spot before the season ends and avoid the tournament set up altogether. Personally, I found the odds quite surprising.

The Bulls are in complete control of their own fate the rest of the way but they do have some tough games they’ll have to win in order to get a playoff spot. Bulls fans want to see this team get in and I think they’ll be able to pull things together and get rolling quick enough to earn a spot.