NBA Regular Season 2023/24, Thursday, 28.03.2024
On Thursday night, the NBA will see a showdown between the flagging Chicago team and their offensively strong division rivals from Indianapolis. The match at the United Center therefore offers many promising betting opportunities.
My Bulls Pacers tip, for which I’m using two events in the Bwin configurator, tells you why I’m expecting strong performances from the two former Raptors teammates DeRozan and Siakam
The legendary Chicago Bulls are currently in the no-man’s land of the world’s best basketball league.
With 34 wins and 38 losses, they are too good for the lottery and the associated lucrative player selection rights, but at the same time not good enough to have a realistic chance of making it past the first playoff round.
The team from the Windy City currently ranks ninth in the East (6.5 games behind the Pacers for the first guaranteed playoff spot) and would therefore be eligible to participate in the play-in tournament at the end of the season
The Bulls have only won three of their last nine games, although they were also able to defeat today’s visitors from Indiana in a dramatic game 132-129 after overtime.
Former star DeMar DeRozan forced overtime with a buzzer-beater jump shot.
DeRozan continues to put up very solid numbers (23.3 points and 5.3 assists on 47.4% from the field), but his old-fashioned, isolation-focused style of play has repeatedly proven to be unsustainable in the playoffs.
With an offensive rating of 113.6, the Bulls have a below-average offense (ranked 20th), but the defense is also vulnerable with a rating of 115.6 (also ranked 20th).
The Bulls have the third slowest offense in the league (which is not bad per se) and are one of the most reliable teams (only four teams have a lower turnover rate).
Meanwhile, the visitors from Indiana (6-4 record in the last ten games) are ranked sixth in the East with a 41-32 record (one and a half games ahead of Miami).
Indy boasts the second-best offense in the league this season (rating of 120.2), while the defense is only the sixth-worst (118).
However, the Pacers have noticeably improved defensively of late, not least thanks to the midseason trade for star forward Pascal Siakam.
With a rating of 114, Indy still has the seventeenth-best defense in March.
The Yellow and Navy’s attack is the sixth-best (118.2) this month and the one with the fastest pace (in keeping with the team name).
The visitors’ offensive firepower and defensive fragility were evident in the last two games, when they were spectacularly beaten 145-150 by the Lakers and then poured 133 points on the Clippers the following evening (win by +17).
The outstanding player of the games in LA was the aforementioned newcomer Siakam, who contributed 36 and 31 points on a formidable 28/49 shooting.
In general, the two-time All-NBA player has settled in nicely in the Midwest, posting strong numbers of 21.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 0.8 steals with an impressive 55.5% from the field and 37.2% from the three-point line in his 32 games so far.
This makes “Spicy P” the perfect complement to Indy’s floor general Tyrese Haliburton (20.4 points and 11.2 assists), who has been able to throw himself out of a formidable shooting slump in the last three games (12/23 threes).
Another point in the Bulls’ favor is that they have won two of their three matches so far.
I still think the Pacers are the favorites tonight, as the home side should have a hard time matching the visitors’ explosive offense.
Meanwhile, top scorers DeRozan and Siakam are also known for their explosive offense, scoring 24.9 and 24.3 points each in their last ten appearances (30.7 in the last three).
DeRozan also put up an impressive 46 points (15/24 shots) in the last game against Indiana’s vulnerable defense.
The Bulls, on the other hand, are missing the only big man who could halfway defend Siakam’s rare combination of agility and strength/size in the form of the long-term injured Patrick Williams (bone marrow edema).
That’s why I’m unusually resorting to a configurator bet today, which assumes at least 20 points from Siakam and 25+ points from DeRozan and is trading at lucrative odds of 2.10.
The brave among you could also create the bet “DeRozan and Siakam with 25+ each” in the configurator tab (odds around 3.30).
However, due to a good balance of odds and probability of occurrence, my Bulls Pacers tip today is a combination of “DeRozan 25+” & “Siakam 20+. “
