Chicago Bulls vs. Golden State Warriors: Betting odds and prediction
In what feels like an enormous game for the Chicago Bulls on the night of Jan. 14 comes against head coach Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors at home at the United Center. The Bulls aren’t coming off their best stretch of games in the last week or so.
In the last three games, the lone victory for second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls came over the Detroit Pistons in dominant fashion on Jan. 11. That came in the front end of back-to-back games on Jan. 11 and 12.
But matters quickly turned on the Bulls once again in a convincing 138-112 loss at home at the United Center to a Brooklyn Nets team that finally had their big three playing together at the same time. That loss to the Nets proved that this Bulls team is both struggling through some injury issues and could use another piece or two to really elevate their contender status in the Eastern Conference.
Following their loss to the Nets on Jan. 12, the Bulls come into this meeting with the Warriors sporting a record of 27-12. Meanwhile, the Warriors come into this game sporting a record of 30-11 following their loss on the road in the front end of back-to-back games against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 13.
The Warriors are facing a difficult stretch of the schedule this week as they have to travel to face two of the better teams in the East on the road in back-to-back games entering the weekend.
Here’s a look into the betting odds and game prediction as the Bulls get set to take on the Warriors at the United Center in Chicago on Jan. 14, with tip-off time set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Chicago Bulls vs. Golden State Warriors betting odds
According to WynnBet, the Bulls are a four-point favorite over the Warriors in this game. And the over/under is set at 223 points.
The ESPN matchup predictor gives the Bulls a 50.4 percent chance to beat the Warriors.
Chicago Bulls vs. Golden State Warriors prediction
There are plenty of tidbits of news worth noting ahead of this matchup between the Bulls and Warriors heading into the weekend.
On the Bulls side, it looks like they will be down point guard Alex Caruso and forward Derrick Jones Jr. in this game. We don’t know the exact timeframe for Caruso to return. But Jones is going to miss at least the next few weeks after injuring his knee against the Nets earlier this week.
This is all according to the NBA’s latest injury report on the morning of Jan. 14.
Being down Caruso and DJJ is obviously going to hurt the Bulls in this game. The team is also going to be down shooting guard/forward Javonte Green, who is still out due to an adductor injury.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are going to be down five-time All-Star shooting guard/small forward Klay Thompson in this game. Thompson made his return this week after missing roughly the last two seasons thanks to an unfortunate string of tragic injuries from the last few years. He played in the front end of this set of back-to-back games for the Warriors instead of against the Bulls on Jan. 14.
This feels like a game where the Bulls need either star shooting guard Zach LaVine or forward DeMar DeRozan to go off. LaVine and DeRozan both played pretty well in the first half of the Bulls’ embarrassing loss to the Nets on Jan. 12. But the effectiveness for pretty much the entire team faded away in the second half.
There could be a matchup advantage that the Bulls have with DeRozan, especially knowing that the Warriors are down Thompson.
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DeRozan and the Bulls could really use a win to right the ship after losing two of their last three games at the hands of the Nets and Dallas Mavericks. It is also important for the Bulls to get off to a good start in what is the front end of back-to-back games of their own. The Bulls are set to face the Boston Celtics on the road on Jan. 15 too.