Vaughn Dalzell breaks down his favorite NBA bet for the Sunday Slate in a matchup between the Chicago Bulls hosting the Memphis Grizzlies.
Grizzlies (-2.5) at Bulls: O/U 229.5
Over the past five games, these teams mirror each other in field goal percentage, net rating on both offense and defense, plus other key categories. One area they separate themselves is pace, as Memphis is a top-five tempo and Chicago is bottom-10.
However, with more possessions, Chicago could be lethal. The Bulls rank second in the NBA in true shooting percentage (62.8%) and effective field goal percentage (60.6%) over the last five games. Chicago has the seventh-ranked offense in that span and won three out of those five games (lost at Clippers and Lakers).
Memphis is 15-22 on the ML (40.5%) and 13-23-1 ATS (35.1%) on the road this season. They are without Brandon Clarke, Steven Adams and Ziaire Williams, plus John Konchar and Vince Williams are questionable for this matchup.
Chicago is 37-40 on the year with five games left at a chance to be .500 or better. Chicago is No. 10 in the East and own final spot for the play-in, plus 1.0 game back of No. 8 and 9. This is a monumental home game for the Bulls.
The Bulls lost 104-89 at Memphis earlier this season. DeMar DeRozan was out for that game, Patrick Beverley wasn’t on the bulls yet but Clarke and Konchar for Memphis did. With Alex Caruso and now Pat Bev, Ja Morant should have a tougher time attempting to mimic his 34 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds from the previous meeting.
Give me Chicago at +2.5 (-110) down to the ML (+120). I think the Bulls win outright at home.
Pick: Bulls +2.5 (1u)
Bonus Bet: I wasn’t able to get a full write up in time for this game, but the Charlotte Hornets Team Total Under 103.5 (-118) is something I played too versus the Toronto Raptors. Charlotte is resting a ton of players and great live bet to the Under if you catch this game live or this article late.
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