04.01.2023

Nets @ Bulls Game Preview and Pick

One of the 12 NBA games slated to be played tonight will feature the Brooklyn Nets heading to Chicago to take on the Bulls. We’ll preview the game before going over why I like the Nets to continue to be a profitable team to back.

Game Preview

Over the last ten games, the Brooklyn Nets have been the best team in basketball and by a fairly wide margin. The Nets have gone 10-0 in their last ten games and have put up a NET efficiency rating of 13.4, which is 5.1 points higher than the team with the second-best rating.

They have put on an absolute scoring clinic as of late and have been getting impactful scoring from their starters down to their bench unit. Just in their last game alone, the Nets had five players score in double figures, and as a team, they shot 62% from the field and 55% from three. That was also the second straight game they shot above 60% from the field.

On the defensive end of the floor, the Nets have put up a defensive efficiency rating of 111.4 over the last ten games, ranked sixth in the NBA. The Nets' opponent tonight, the Chicago Bulls, ranked 15th in offensive efficiency rating over the previous ten games, but they have managed to score 118 or more points in five of their last six games.

Despite the scoring, the Bulls will enter tonight on a two-game losing streak. Chicago had Zach Lavine score 26 points and Demar Derozan score 44 points in their last game, and they still managed to lose in overtime to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Bad defense does not do the Bulls' recent loss justice, as they didn’t just allow 145 points to be scored in the overtime loss; they allowed Donavan Mitchell to score 71 points in the game. With those numbers, it’s no surprise the Bulls' 119.9 defensive efficiency rating is the second worst in the league over the last ten games.

Pick for the Game

The Brooklyn Nets are currently listed as -5.5 point road favorites, and I’ll be backing them as my best play for the game. Brooklyn is 5-1 ATS in their last six games, and with the level at which their offense is playing, the Bulls' defense should be no match for them.

Allowing the Nets to get second-chance points is a recipe for disaster, and over the last ten games, the Bulls are allowing opponents to get 16.6 second-chance points a game which is ranked second worst in the league during that time. The team that allows the most second-chance points is the Spurs, and in the Nets' last game, they scored 139 points on that San Antonio team.

The Nets are playing better basketball on both ends of the floor right now and are 6-2 ATS in their last eight trips to Chicago. It may seem like a “square” pick to back the red-hot favorite, but this number is a bit too low not to take for a fully healthy and clicking Nets team.