The NFL might take center stage on Sunday, but the NBA is coming out swinging with ten games on the card. One game that’s caught my eye features two teams with lengthy winning streaks squaring up against one another. I’m talking about none other than the Dallas Mavericks hosting the Chicago Bulls.
Let’s dig into the matchup and see where the value lies.
Dallas played inspired basketball on Wednesday when the team retired the number of Dirk Nowitzki. They’ve since parlayed that performance into a convincing 130-106 victory over the Rockets on the road. However, they’ll face an upgrade in class when they host the Chicago Bulls. The Mavericks might boast a five-game winning streak, but it’s the Bulls who lead the league with the highest winning streak at the moment with nine straight victories. Chicago is now within one game in the loss column behind the Suns and Warriors.
The Bulls seem to have a bit of everything with veterans and young players up and down their roster. But their bench has also given them a massive boost, particularly with Alex Caruso’s being a very underrated addition given everything he does on the court. Caruso’s started on the bench in 17 of the 26 games he’s played in this season. But when he comes into the game, he’s always in the mix as he’s averaging 8.4 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.7 rebounds.
Further, Caruso’s added a defensive intangible to his game as he’s averaging 2.0 steals per game. That’s almost double his career average of 1.1 per game. The former Laker is a tremendous compliment to Bulls’ stars like DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, who average at least 26 points per game. It’s worth noting that the Bulls are the only team in league with two players averaging that many points.
There’s nothing fluky about this Chicago team. And being able to grab them as a short favorite is highly enticing.
It also doesn’t hurt that Chicago’s 4-0-1 against the spread in the last five meetings and 9-3-1 in the past 13 meetings overall. Since I see them extending their winning streak, I’ll look to play them on the money line and bypass the point spread altogether.
Pick: Over 212.5 (-128)
All NBA predictions and picks are courtesy of SportsGrid.
