On the afternoon of Jan. 30, the Chicago Bulls and second-year head coach Billy Donovan will get their final of the regular season at head coach Chauncey Billups and the Portland Trail Blazers. The main difference between this meeting with the Blazers compared to the one earlier in the regular season is the fact that Portland’s superstar point guard Damian Lillard will be absent this weekend.
The six-time All-Star Lillard has an abdominal injury that caused him to miss around the last three weeks. He could also be out for most of the month of February for the Blazers. That is obviously not good news for a Portland team that was looking to contend in the Western Conference heading into the regular season.
Moreover, the Bulls are coming into this game looking to prevent a losing streak from building to two. The last game for the Bulls resulted in a tough nine-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs on the road back on Jan. 28. That gives the Bulls a record of 30-18 heading into this game.
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers come into this game with a record of 21-28 following their convincing 125-110 road win over the Houston Rockets back on Jan. 28. Yet, the Blazers have still lost two of their last three coming into this one.
Here’s a look into the betting odds and game prediction as the Bulls get set to host the Blazers at home at the United Center on Jan. 30, with tip-off time set for 2:30 p.m. CT.
Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers betting odds
According to WynnBet, the Bulls are a five-point favorite just ahead of tip-off against the Blazers. And the over/under is set at 230 points.
The ESPN matchup predictor gives the Bulls a 65.3 percent chance to beat the Blazers.
Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers prediction
Despite the absence of Dame, the Trail Blazers are actually playing pretty well through the latter portion of their January schedule. You would think that a Blazers team with some real injury through the first half of the season would really tanking with Dame out.
Since Jan. 10, though, the Blazers have wins over the Brooklyn Nets, and the Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, and Boston Celtics all on the road. That essentially means the Bulls can’t take this Blazers team lightly, despite hosting them at the friendly confines of the United Center to round out the weekend.
A common theme that emerged for the Bulls in the Jan. 28 loss to the Spurs was the fact that the bench is very short on impact players right now. The Bulls will need the likes of point guard Coby White, rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu, forward Troy Brown Jr., sharpshooting guard Matt Thomas, etc. to step up in this game.
That’s really what the Bulls have left of the supporting cast beyond the big three trio of forward DeMar DeRozan, center Nikola Vucevic, and shooting guard Zach LaVine.
DeRozan’s continued solid play will obviously be a key to victory in this game for the Bulls. But it feels like the duo of White and Dosunmu will be critical for the Bulls too. Staving off what looks to be a spirited backcourt unit of the Blazers with the likes of CJ McCollum, Anfernee Simons, and guard/wing Norman Powell are playing some good basketball of late.
If the Bulls can get this trio of DeRozan, Dosunmu, and White all performing at a high level, it’s really difficult to see the Blazers winning this game. Those are the three that really need to show up for the Bulls. This is a game the Bulls should win at home, especially if all of these aforementioned key players show up to play on Jan. 30.