Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks: Betting odds and prediction
In the first game out of the All-Star Break this week, the Chicago Bulls and second-year head coach Billy Donovan are set to square off against star point guard Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls have a lot on the line down the stretch this season as they look to jockey for position at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Coming out of the All-Star Break, the Bulls are sporting a record of 38-21. That record is good enough for the Bulls to tie with the Miami Heat for first place in the Eastern Conference standings.
In their last game, the Bulls topped the Sacramento Kings at home at the United Center before All-Star Weekend on Feb. 16, by the final score of 125-118. That moved the Bulls’ winning streak to five games before the All-Star Break.
Meanwhile, the Hawks come into this meeting with the Bulls sporting a record of 28-30 following their Feb. 16 21-point win over the Orlando Magic in their final game before All-Star Weekend. The Hawks are also riding a two-game winning streak coming out of the All-Star Break.
Here’s a look into the betting odds and game prediction as the Bulls get set to host the Hawks at the United Center in Chicago on Feb. 24, with tip-off time set for 7 p.m. CT.
Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks betting odds
According to WynnBet, the Bulls are a 3.5-point favorite over the Hawks in this game. And the over/under is set at 240.5 points.
The ESPN matchup predictor gives the Bulls a 54.4 percent chance to beat the Hawks.
Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks prediction
There is some good news for the Bulls heading into this meeting with the Hawks. According to the latest NBA injury report on the afternoon of Feb. 24, star shooting guard Zach LaVine is no longer showing up on the reported list of injured players for the Bulls. While it looks like LaVine is still dealing with some of that pain in his left knee he was experiencing prior to the All-Star Break, this could be some good news for the Bulls this week.
It now looks like the Bulls will be riding the big three of LaVine, star forward DeMar DeRozan, and center Nikola Vucevic to try and knock off a competitive team like the Hawks.
Heading into the All-Star Break, DeRozan was maybe the hottest player in the league. He made history prior to All-Star Weekend by being the first player in NBA history to score at least 35 points while shooting at least 50 percent from the field in seven straight games.
All eyes are likely going to be on the matchup between the Bulls’ star duo of LaVine and DeRozan and the Hawks’ top star in Young.
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This is another winnable game for the Bulls that could move their winning streak to six games heading into the weekend. But Trae and the Hawks will always put up a valiant effort offensively. This will be a good test for the Bulls’ defense coming out of All-Star Weekend.