Chicago Bulls vs Milwaukee Bucks 11/28/18 NBA Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Chicago Bulls face the Milwaukee Bucks for the second time this season on Wednesday 11/28/18 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

The last time these teams met, the Bucks routed the Bulls 123-104. Milwaukee leads the Central Division with their 14-6 record while the Bulls are fourth at 5-16.

LaVine’s Breakout Season

The Bulls enter this game having lost seven out of their last eight games including their last four games on the road. Injuries have played a big part of Chicago’s misfortunes this season as the team is currently playing without key players Lauri Markkanen, Bobby Portis, Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine. The Bulls had just gotten guard Zach LaVine back in action this season after an ACL tear recovery period last year. But instead of getting healthy, the Bulls have even lost more needed bodies this season.

The Bulls rank 29th in the league in team scoring at 103.6 points per game and are also only 23rd in assists at 22.1 dimes per contest. Chicago is in the bottom 10 in rebounds at 41.9 rebounds per game, 25th in the NBA and the Bulls are also just 22nd in the NBA in scoring defense at 112.7 points per game allowed.

Slow Starters

The Milwaukee Bucks have opened the season strong and are currently on top of the Central Division and 2nd in the Eastern Conference, thanks to the top scoring offense in the NBA. But winning games hasn’t been easy for the Bucks who have been slow starters at this stage of the season. The Bucks have trailed at the end of the first quarter in half of the game they have played this season. But they’ve been good at making rallies and coming back from deficits, thus giving them a 14-6 record through 20 games played.

As stated above, the Bucks are the top scoring team in the NBA this season at 121.0 points per game. That offense is aided by the fact that the Bucks share the ball very well as evidenced by being the 2nd top passing team in the league at 27.3 assists per game. On defense, the Bucks are 11th in scoring defense, holding their opponents to 109.9 points per game. Milwaukee’s ace on defense is rebounding as they are the top rebounding team in the NBA at 50.6 rebounds per game.

Who Wins?

These teams have played a total of 245 times during the NBA regular season and the Bulls lead the all-time series 131-114. Milwaukee though has won six out of their last nine meetings including the last three. These teams have already played once this season last November 16th. The Bucks won 123-104 in Milwaukee.

The Bulls trail the Bucks by 9.5 games in the Central Division standings and that’s just how good the Bucks have been to start the season. Not only are the Bulls struggling with their game, they are struggling with their health. For this game, Kris Dunn, Bobby Portis, Lauri Markkanen and Denzel Valentine won’t be playing because of different injuries. That alone puts Chicago in a predicament against these much improved Bucks.

Other Bets To Make

Chicago is 10-11 ATS in 21 games this season. The Bulls are also 3-6 ATS in 9 road games played so far. Milwaukee is 11-8-1 ATS in their 20 games played in this campaign. The Bucks are 8-3-1 ATS in 12 home games played so far. Head to head, the Bucks are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 meetings including 3-0 ATS in the last three game played between these teams.

The under is 13-7-1 in Chicago’s 21 games this season and the total has gone under in six out of their 9 road games played so far. The over is 14-6 in Milwaukee’s 20 games played this season and the total has gone over in 9 out of the 12 home games played by the Bucks. Head to head, the over is 4-2 in their last 6 meetings.