New York Knicks at Chicago Bulls
Thursday, 11/4/10, 8:00 PM EST, TV: TNT
Opening Point Spread: Chicago -7
Current Betting Line: Chicago -7
Opening Total: 202
Current Total: 203.5
New York heads to the Windy City to take on the Bulls at the United Center and try to win for just the third time in 19 games in Chicago. The Knicks are coming off a disappointing 100-95 effort to the Portland Trail Blazers at home, a game that they led by nine points with 5:32 remaining in the game, only to score seven points the rest of the way. The team is definitely focused on trying to avoid a third consecutive loss, suffering its defeats by a combined nine points. “We’re still getting used to each other, still trying to get that chemistry, but things didn’t go our way,” said point guard Raymond Felton. “It’s tough to lose a game like that.” It will be a tall task to turn things around against an opponent they’ve lost to 22 of the last 31 overall meetings. The team is 45-36 ATS on the road and the NBA lines page shows them as a seven-point underdog.
The Knicks dropped last season’s series 31, winning the first meeting at the Garden on December 22 after losing in Chicago just five days earlier. New York then dropped a home-and-home, back-to-back in February. Forward Wilson Chandler averaged 16.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in the four meetings last year and his contract situation has been a topic of discussion around the Big Apple. “I spent most of my life with no money, so to wait a year won’t be hard to deal with,” he stated. “Whatever I get will be better than what I have.” Chandler posted 22 points and 16 rebounds in the team’s last game versus the Blazers and is now averaging 21 points per contest.
Chicago is coming in off an impressive 110-98 home victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday and was led by forward Luol Deng’s career night. Deng managed to score 40 points on 14 of 19 shooting from the field and was joined by point guard Derrick Rose matching a career-high with 13 assists. “He got 40 points, but it wasn’t any isolation plays,” said guard Kyle Korver. “It wasn’t like we were standing around watching Lu.” One area of concern showed up in the contest with the Bulls continuing to foul opponents. Portland hit 32 of 41 free throws and the squad is allowing opponents an average of 41 attempts at the charity stripe per game. The team is 2-0 ATS at home and 10-11 ATS as a favorite of 6.5 to 9 points at the United Center.
The Bulls are still a work in progress and will be looking forward to Carlos Boozer joining the starting lineup. “We understand that we’re a man down without Carlos and we’re trying to pick up the slack, just battle night in and night out,” power forward Taj Gibson said. “The first loss of the season to Oklahoma City really motivated us.” Boozer is set to get his cast removed from his broken right hand this week but is expected to be sidelined another month. Rose picked up some of the slack in averaging 33.5 points per game in the first two contests, which actually led the league, but returned to being a facilitator on Monday.
Bettors will be interested in playing the Knicks due to their 77-60 ATS mark as a road underdog of 6.5 points, while the Bulls are 7-1 ATS versus the Atlantic Division.
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