NBA 2021/22 on Wednesday, 12.01.2022
The Chicago Bulls play the Detroit Pistons tonight at the United Center. Even bookmakers like Bet365 that we have checked seem to be aware that there can only be one winner in the end – and that is the home side.
However, in my Bulls Pistons tip I go a step further and predict a relatively clear success for the favourites. The absence of Jeremi Grant was already the deciding factor in the last encounter!
This is just a note off the upcoming game: but if the Bulls could actually wrest Jerami Grant from the Pistons in a trade, the Red and Whites move into second place behind the Nets on my note as far as the NBA title is concerned.
Grant is still suffering from a thumb injury – which is one of the reasons why Detroit is currently stranded – but if he plays at Illinois soon, the rest of the league can start warming up.
As for his Bad Boys: Without their best man by far, the Pistons are currently only going in one direction, as with a record of (9-30) they are unfortunately in second-to-last place in the division!
The advantage for the Bulls is that they had a day off yesterday, unlike their upcoming opponents. This little breather will have come just in time for the red and whites to recover from their recent loss to the Mavericks.
The reason the Bulls lost to Dallas in the first place was that the Mavs, with “centre Godzilla” Luka Doncic (14 rebounds, 14 assists), cleaned up everything under the board that wasn’t nailed down. But the Pistons simply don’t have such a superstar!
Dallas, by the way, ended a winning streak in which the Bulls had won nine NBA games in a row. And even if that streak has come to an end, the party at the United Center goes on.
For here, Chicago will be able to work on its ninth consecutive home win. And indeed, the “home bonus” is reflected in the stats, which seem to suggest we’re getting more effort from the home side.
At home, the Bulls won the most NBA games in percentage terms after the Warriors (77.8%). But not only that: according to the NBA statistics, the yield in the important categories like FG% is also higher on average at the United Center than away from home!
Moreover, the Bulls have been almost completely spared from injuries and Omikron at the moment. Because in the starting five, just about everything is in the starting line-up. Alex Caruso is still missing, but his possible return has already been announced against the Mavs and should therefore be imminent!
However, the Bulls will be just fine without Caruso, especially since the Bad Boys have always proven to be a reliable source of points. In fact, the Illinois franchise has already celebrated nine straight wins over Detroit!
But interesting for our Bulls Pistons tip are only the last two showdowns. These are two duels from the current season, which are much more meaningful because Chicago has bought well since the beginning of the season.
In both games, the 100-point mark was not broken by either team, yet the two 94:88 and 97:82 victories of the favourite were relatively commanding! The narrower victory, by the way, came about because Jeremi Grant (24 points) was still fit for action on the other side.
However, this one also sees the Pistons as the glaring underdog in the upcoming game. The Bad Boys, in fact, are going in at an even eight times the betting stakes at several leading bookies.
A win for the clearly favoured Bulls, on the other hand, is offered at almost microscopic betting odds of currently around 1.08.
Conclusion: The Bulls are simply in great form and are unbeaten at home for nine games. The only reason why the last game against the Mavs was lost at all can be summed up quickly – Luka Doncic.
But the Pistons don’t have a comparable superstar. Jeremi Grant is currently injured – and even he could not prevent the first of two season defeats against Chicago (88:94).
In the following rematch, however, the deficit was much bigger without the talented small forward (82:97). And indeed, due to the home strength of the favourites, I expect a similar final result as in the last encounter.
My Bulls Pistons tip: Bulls win despite HC -11!
