We’re coming down to the wire in the NBA regular season and two of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference are the Chicago Bulls and the Charlotte Hornets. You read that right, the Hornets have won three in a row heading into this Friday night matchup and despite losing their last two, the Bulls are 8-6 this month and 6-4 in their last 10.
Alright well, maybe Chicago has cooled off some while out in L.A., but this is still an interesting matchup in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament and for the NBA Draft. Let’s check out the odds.
Bulls vs. Hornets odds, spread and total
Bulls vs. Hornets prediction and pick
Do the Hornets know what the goal of this season is? Do they know that they’re supposed to be losing games? They should probably figure it out soon before they win a few too many games and end up with a few less ping pong balls come the NBA Draft Lottery. They’re 3-1 in their last four with two wins over Dallas, but they only have a 0.1 net rating over that stretch. This stretch might say more about Dallas than it does about Charlotte.
The Bulls success is a bit more real. Zach LaVine is averaging 28.8 points a game and DeMar DeRozen has become more of a passer, averaging 5.5 assists this month. They have a net rating of 1.0 for the entire month, and a winning record has gotten them into 10th in the East which is good enough for the Play-In right now.
I don’t believe in what Charlotte is doing, they’re a bad team led by Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre Jr. and they probably won’t have Oubre for this matchup, so let’s believe in the Bulls and take them to get back into the win column after a tough trip to LA.
Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change