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The United Center is the site for NBC Sports Chicago’s Betcast of the game featuring the Chicago Bulls and the Charlotte Hornets. There is plenty of incentive for each team as DeMar DeRozan and the Bulls host Miles Bridges and the Charlotte Hornets.
The Bulls are reeling having lost three of four on their current five game homestand. How bad were the three losses? Each was by a minimum of 18 points. Ouch. As a result, Chicago has dropped to 6th place in the Eastern Conference. They need something positive to happen.
The Hornets sit two games over .500 and in 10th in the East. They are one game behind the Atlanta Hawks. In their last outing, the Hornets blasted the Orlando Magic 128-101 last night.
This has all the ingredients of an exciting game with the Bulls trying to right the ship and the Hornets looking to pull even with the Atlanta Hawks in the race for a home game in the play-in tournament.
The Late Sweat crew has taken a deeper dive into this game to find value. Corey Parson, Vaughn Dalzell, Kenny Ducey, Johnathan Wright, and Jake Wolf each have taken a unique look at a single aspect of the game. Ride with any of the team individually or parlay the five and enjoy a boost on your bet courtesy of PointsBet from +1100 to +2000.
Tune in tonight on NBC Sports Chicago beginning at 7P Eastern for NBC Sports EDGE: GameTime followed by the betcast of the Bulls vs. the Hornets.
https://il.pointsbet.com/sports/name-a-bet/Booster-Odds-Hub/136118
Corey Parson (@TheFantasyExec): Chicago Bulls ML (-136)
The Chicago Bulls are struggling at the worst possible time. The Bulls have had a good season…when healthy. When they were at their healthiest early in the season Chicago was sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference. That has not been the case of late. The Bulls are on a three-game losing streak and have lost 6 out of their last 10 games. They do not look good going into the playoffs.
Tonight, Chicago will host the Hornets looking for a season sweep. The Bulls have played very well at home this season, particularly when they have been a favorite at home. Chicago is 23-4 straight up this season as home favorites. This should be a back-and-forth game tonight, but the Bulls will get the straight up win.
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports): DeMar DeRozan OVER 27.5 Points (-115)
DeRozan has hit the OVER on this prop in four of his last six games and three straight meetings versus the Hornets. Charlotte sits in the 10th seed for the East and would like to avoid playing two play-in games and more importantly two road play-in games, so we should expect this to be competitive.
The Bulls MVP is projected to score 30 points by our model and since the New Year, DeRozan has scored 28-plus points in 14 out of 20 home games (70%). He dropped 30 or more points in nine of those 14 Overs and the Hornets defense allow the third-most points per game to small forwards and the sixth-most to shooting guards. Suffice it to say, DeMar DeRozan has a positive matchup in the Bulls regular-season home finale.
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Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey): DeMar DeRozan OVER 4.5 Assists (-125)
The Hornets have certainly floundered of late on defense, ranking 24th in points allowed per 100 possessions in the last two weeks. This has led to a lot of high-scoring games and gaudy numbers. Charlotte’s pace which ranks Top Ten in the Association not helping.
Enter the Chicago Bulls, a team which is duking it out for playoff seeding and has been playing some decent offense of late. As a result of those factors, it is safe to target some Chicago players. There should be plenty of buckets which leads me to this prop on DeRozan. Charlotte has allowed over five assists per game on average to opposing shooting guards this year and DeRozan has had five or more helpers in three of his last four outings.
While there have been times DeRozan has not been a willing distributor and has instead shouldered the scoring load, he still has cashed this over 45 times.
Jonathan Wright (@JwrightOfficial): Terry Rozier OVER 3.5 Assists (-131)
Terry Rozier‘s shown significant improvement in his playmaking ability this season. Entering the Hornet’s final road game of the season, the 28-year-old is averaging a career-high 4.4 assists and 8.3 potential assists per game.
Moreover, Rozier’s assist percentage has bumped up to 20.3% since the all-star break, and he is completing 3.9 more passes per game.
Being matched up against Chicago tonight is a massive boost for Rozier’s assist potential. Not only do the Bulls rank last in the NBA for assists allowed to opposing guards per game with 18.1, but the Ohio native has recorded ten total dimes in his previous two games against the Bulls this season.
Our NBC projection model predicts the Louisville product will dish out 5.4 assists, cashing us this leg of the parlay.
Jake Wolf (@JakeWolf13): Miles Bridges 20+ Points (-145)
The NBC Sports EDGE player projection model expects Miles Bridges to put up 22 points tonight. Bridges was quiet in his last outing with only 13 points in 24 minutes against the Magic but prior to that game, he put up 20 points in six consecutive games.
The Bulls rank 22nd in defensive rating this season and Bridges has shot 69% from within four feet of the rim this season, which improves to 72% from inside when facing teams with a bottom-10 defensive rating. I expect plenty of looks from close range for Bridges against a Bulls’ defense that allowed the highest opponent frequency of shots at the rim.
Need more ammo? The former Michigan State forward has knocked down 40% of his corner threes this season AND opponents have made a league-high 42.6% from the corners against the Chicago Bulls this season.
Late Sweat Summary:
Corey Parson (@TheFantasyExec): Chicago Bulls ML (-136)
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports): DeMar DeRozan OVER 27.5 Points (-115)
Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey): DeMar DeRozan OVER 4.5 Assists (-125)
Jonathan Wright (@JwrightOfficial): Terry Rozier OVER 3.5 Assists (-131)
Jake Wolf (@JakeWolf13): Miles Bridges 20+ Points (-145)
Enjoy the game and enjoy The Late Sweat.
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