Another tough challenge looms large for the Chicago Bulls and second-year head coach Billy Donovan to round out the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. On the afternoon of Jan. 17, the Bulls are set to take on the red-hot Memphis Grizzlies and rising star point guard Ja Morant to try and prevent their losing streak from moving to four games.
This is the third game of the holiday weekend for the Bulls. They are coming off a tough two-point loss to the Boston Celtics on the road in the back end of back-to-back games at the TD Garden on Jan. 15. Following that loss to the Celtics, the Bulls are sporting a record of 27-14.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are coming into this meeting with the Bulls with a record of 30-15. The Grizzlies just had a season-best 11-game winning streak severed in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 14. That convincing 112-85 loss to the Mavericks heading into the weekend was the last game that the Grizzlies played in.
Here’s a look into the betting odds and game prediction as the Bulls are getting set to take on the Grizzlies on the road at the FedEx Forum on Jan. 17, with tip-off time set for 2:30 p.m. CT.
Chicago Bulls vs. Memphis Grizzlies betting odds
According to WynnBet, the Bulls are an 8.5-point underdog against the Grizzlies in this game. And the over/under is set at 224.5 points.
The ESPN matchup predictor gives the Bulls a 16.1 percent chance to beat the Grizzlies.
Chicago Bulls vs. Memphis Grizzlies prediction
The Bulls are still going to be without the services of key players like star shooting guard Zach LaVine, point guard Lonzo Ball, and point guard Alex Caruso, among many others for this game. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are heading into this game with a pretty healthy roster.
That likely doesn’t bode well for the Bulls, who are likely just thankful at this moment that the injury to LaVine’s knee didn’t turn out to be all that consequential.
Nonetheless, the Bulls will still need the star duo of forward DeMar DeRozan and center Nikola Vucevic to come up big when an otherwise thin rotation. DeRozan and Vucevic definitely had their moments in the loss to the Celtics on Jan. 15. But the two need a more sustained effort to beat a team as good as the Grizzlies on the road.
It’s really easy to notice how detrimental the loss of LaVine was for the Bulls against the Celtics. DeRozan, Vucevic, point guard Coby White, etc. have less room to work. And it adds a lot more pressure on the shoulders of younger players such as Coby and rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu.
This is another outing for the Bulls where it seems difficult to find a winning path. Dosunmu and Coby played a nearly perfect game against the Celtics, and the Bulls still lost. Unless the duo of Vucevic and DeRozan play out of their minds, this will be a tough one for the Bulls.