The Chicago Bulls (12-15) and Atlanta Hawks (15-14) will face off tonight. The Hawks come into this as 5.5 point favourites, despite lacking recent form.
Atlanta will be looking to bounce back after a difficult night against San Antonio on Friday. The main challenge they face is re-adjusting to life with franchise star Trae Young. In his absence the team had a good record (13-10), with him they are 2-5. Atlanta looked a better team when Nickeil Alexander-Walker came off the bench against Charlotte on Thursday. Nickeil scored 28 pts, on an efficient 11-18 field goal attempts. Compared to Trae who shot 3-8 FG’s and bagged just 8pts. So the question tonight is whether Trae shifts down to 6th man as he comes back from illness.
As for Chicago, they come into this after two dominant victories over Cleveland. In Friday’s victory, seven of Chicago’s team hit double figures in points. They will need to tighten up defensively if they want to climb the standings in the East, they currently occupy the 10th seed and rank 27th for Opposition Points Per Game (122).
Our Selection:
1u: Atlanta Hawks -5.5 pts (-110)
This is an opportunity for Atlanta to kickstart their season with Trae Young in the team. Chicago are poor defensively and Atlanta rank top in the league for assists per game. With lots of ball movement and rotations, there should be plenty of open looks for Atlanta.
Recent Form:
Injury Report:
Chicago Bulls: Jalen Smith (Probable- left quad), Ayo Dosunmu (Probable- thumb), Coby White (Questionable- ankle), Noa Essengue (Out- Shoulder)
Atlanta Hawks: Kristaps Porzingis (Out- Illness), Eli John Ndiaye (Coach’s Decision), N’Faly Dante (Out- Concussion)