Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers
Time: Nov 6, 2013 at 7 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Spread: IND -2.5
Total: 183
Odds courtesy of Bovada
The 1-2 Chicago Bulls have started off the season in a bit of a struggle. Facing another superpower in the Eastern Conference might not help things much, if NBA oddsmakers at Bovada are correct in predicting the Indiana Pacers as 2.5 point favorites.
Chicago has looked out of sorts offensively, and Derrick Rose is still trying to round his way back into form after taking a year off following his ACL injury in the 2011 playoffs. Rose has been eased back in a manner of speaking by Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who is playing the one-time MVP just 33.7 minutes per game.
But Rose has struggled, particularly defensively. The Pacers also have three perimeter defenders to throw at Rose in George Hill, Lance Stephenson and Paul George. The trio may split duties covering the Bulls star to keep fresh legs on Rose and wear him down.
All things said, every Bulls player is underachieving except the one most labeled as an underachiever, Carlos Boozer. Boozer has posted an outstanding PER of 29.7 and leads the team in scoring with 22.3 points per game. The Bulls will rely heavily on Booz in this contest as the Pacers have a rugged frontline with David West, Luis Scola and Roy Hibbert. If the Pacers can get Boozer into early foul trouble, this contest could easily get out of hand.
Indiana is looking like a serious threat in the East on the strength of a defense which allows a mere 85 points per game. The Pacers aren’t blowing teams away by scoring feats, as the squad ranks just 19th in points per game with 95 per contest.
But Frank Vogel’s team knows that the defensive end is where games are won, and the road to dethroning the Heat begins with the excellent perimeter defense of the Pacers and the shot blocking of Roy Hibbert. As Indiana continues to gel, it must be considered a legitimate threat to emerge over Chicago and Miami. Chicago will likely learn that lesson painfully tonight.
Chicago Bulls Trends: 0-5 ATS in last 5 after allowing 100-plus points in previous game; OVER 4-0 in last 4 road games; OVER 5-0 in last 5 WED games.
Indiana Pacers Trends: 0-5 ATS in last 5 vs teams with losing SU records; 0-4 ATS in last 4 vs teams with winning pct below .400; 4-0 ATS in last 4 home games vs teams with losing road records
Head to head: UNDER 8-3 in last 11 meetings.
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