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Bulls vs Knicks Prediction, Pick, NBA Odds for Wednesday, November 4
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- Bulls vs Knicks Prediction, Pick, NBA Odds for Wednesday, November 4
via Imagn Images Pictured: Caleb Wilson (left)/ Jalen Brunson (right)
The Chicago Bulls (1-6) and New York Knicks (3-4) will square off in the NBA tonight. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET from Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y, with the game set to broadcast live on NBA League Pass.
The Knicks are 12.5-point favorites over the Bulls on the spread, with the over/under set at 234.5 total points. The Knicks are -600 moneyline favorites to win outright, while the Bulls are listed as +450 underdogs to pull off the upset.
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Let's get into my Bulls vs. Knicks predictionsand NBA picks for Wednesday, November 4.
Bulls vs Knicks Prediction
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Bulls vs Knicks pick: Bulls +12.5 (-114, FanDuel)
My Bulls vs. Knicks best bet is on Chicago to cover the spread, with the best price currently available at DraftKings. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live NBA odds page.
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Bulls vs Knicks Odds
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Bulls vs Knicks spread: Bulls +12.5 (-114), Knicks -12.5 (-106)
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Bulls vs Knicks over/under: 234.5 (-105o / -115u)
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Bulls vs Knicks moneyline: Bulls +450, Knicks -600
Bulls vs Knicks NBA Preview
The Chicago Bulls arrive in New York tied for the bottom of the Central and last in the league in points allowed, but also with a roster that has shown it can score.
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The Bulls are putting up about 112 points a game, led by No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson at 21.6 points and Norman Powell at 20.3, with Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis alongside them.
The problem has been the other end. Chicago allows nearly 129 a game and has given up 124 or more in each of its last five games, which is how a team that scores like a mid-pack offense ends up losing by 43 at Toronto, 35 to Boston and 19 at Philadelphia on Monday.
That 126-107 loss to the 76ers came with Wilson scoring 24, Powell adding 18, and Giddey posting 13 points and 10 assists , but the Bulls made just 10 of 38 from three.
The one thing the Bulls can point to is how they played New York a week ago. In the first meeting at the United Center, Chicago led by as many as 19 in the second half and went into the break up 62-56, with Powell scoring 30 on 10-of-15 shooting and Wilson, Jalen Smith and Buzelis all in double figures.
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The Bulls ended up losing 133-127 when New York finished on a late run, but they trailed by only three with 46 seconds left. Chicago made 18 of 42 from three that night and still came up short, which says as much about the defense as the offense.
The big question for tonight is the frontcourt. Nic Claxton, who came over from Brooklyn in the summer, is questionable with a left hamstring strain and still hasn't made his Bulls debut, Patrick Williams is out or a game-time decision with a groin injury, Tobe Awaka is questionable with an ankle injury, and Smith is probable with a left finger sprain.
If Claxton plays, Chicago adds size inside that it hasn't had all season.
The New York Knicks have been a team that wins games without ever looking comfortable doing it.
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The Knicks lost their first three games, beat Chicago last week after erasing that 19-point deficit on the second night of a back-to-back, dropped a low-scoring 98-93 game at Philadelphia, and then beat Brooklyn 103-90 on Monday, a game in which they trailed entering the fourth quarter and held the Nets to 11 points in the final period.
That is the Knicks' identity so far: a defense that allows about 105 points a game, third best in the league, and an offense that scores about 106 and ranks 21st in efficiency.
Jalen Brunson is averaging 24.6 points, but he's shooting under 40% from the field and 33.3% from three after offseason wrist surgery, even though he went for 38 against these same Bulls.
The supporting cast has been the story lately. Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 13.9 rebounds and pulled down 16 on Monday, OG Anunoby scored 23 against Chicago and Landry Shamet scored 22 off the bench against the Nets.
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Josh Hart is listed as questionable with right ankle soreness, and Jose Alvarado is questionable with an ankle injury, while big men Drew Eubanks (pectoral) and N'Faly Dante (knee) are out, which leaves Towns with little frontcourt depth behind him.
New York is 1-6 against the spread this season, which says plenty about how this team has been priced against how it has played.
Bulls vs Knicks Pick, Betting Analysis
The market is asking the Knicks to win by 13 or more, and that is a big ask for a team with the 21st-ranked offense in the league.
Our Bet Labs system titled "Early Road Trips" targets teams in the opening stretch of a season who are in the middle of a short road trip, and the logic is that early-season legs and effort tend to be undervalued while the home-court advantage is overrated. The Bulls fit part of that profile.
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It's still early in the schedule, only eight games in, and Chicago has had a day off since Monday's game in Philadelphia, so fatigue should not be a big factor.
It's worth noting, though, that this is the third game of the current road swing, which began with Boston and Philadelphia, so the strongest version of the system's edge, the opener of the trip, has already passed.
What remains is the part about a team showing more energy and structure on the road than the market expects, and that has been a reasonable description of how the Bulls played in the first meeting.
The matchup supports the points. New York's offense is not built to blow teams out. A team scoring about 106 a game needs to go well over its average to cover 12.5 against a Chicago team that scores 112 on its own, and the Knicks have not been getting there.
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Last week the Knicks needed a 19-point comeback to beat these same Bulls by six; they scored 98 at Philadelphia and 103 against Brooklyn, and Brunson's efficiency has been well below what he is capable of. Chicago, meanwhile, has Wilson and Powell, who can score in bunches, and a team shooting just 27.9% from three on the season has room for a better night than Monday's 10 of 38.
The risk is that Chicago's defense has been the worst in the league, and the Knicks only need one good shooting night to run away with this.
The Bulls have lost three games by 19 or more, they rank last in the league in net rating, and they have covered in just three of their seven games.
If Claxton sits and Williams and Awaka are limited or out, Towns could dominate the glass and the Knicks could push the margin, and a team that has lost five straight can come unglued when the lead builds.
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In short, the Knicks haven't been dominant, but the number is high for a team with their offensive profile, and Chicago showed last week it can hang with them for 48 minutes.
Pick: Bulls +12.5 (-114, FanDuel)
