The Chicago Bulls (19-27) finish up their four-game Western Conference road trip with the Utah Jazz (36-11) Friday at Vivint Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Bulls-Jazz odds and lines, with NBA picks and predictions.
Chicago has lost five straight games and seven of eight while going 3-5 against the spread with the latest being a 121-116 loss at the Phoenix Suns Wednesday. The Bulls covered the spread as 8.5-point underdogs.
Utah is on a seven-game win streak (4-3 ATS) with the second win coming against these Bulls by a 120-95 score March 22 in Chicago.
The Jazz are destroying foes at home this season: Utah is 20-2 straight up and 17-5 ATS with an average score of 118.0-103.2 and the best home net rating by 5.5 points.
Utah has won four in a row against the Bulls and five of the past six meetings (4-2 ATS).
Bulls at Jazz: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 12:30 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Bulls +500 (bet $100 to win $500) | Jazz -715 (bet $715 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Bulls +12 (-110) | Jazz -12 (-110)
- Over/Under: 224.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Bulls at Jazz: Key injuries
Bulls
- SG Zach LaVine (ankle) questionable
- PG Coby White (neck) questionable
- SG Garrett Temple (hamstring) out
Jazz
- SF Joel Ingles (lower leg) probable
- SG Donovan Mitchell (personal) questionable
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Bulls at Jazz: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Jazz 121, Bulls 106
Money line (ML)
PASS because even though Chicago has covered a lot this season as a road dog, I don’t give the Bulls (+500) much of a chance of stealing this game from the red-hot Jazz.
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Against the spread (ATS)
“LEAN” JAZZ -12 (-110) for a half-unit only because there are just more ways to lose when laying double-digits than there are ways to win. If Utah has a crummy quarter, that could cost Jazz bettors some money.
The best the Bulls can hope for is to get this game into a 3-point shootout and steal this game late with some LaVine heroics. That’s going to be tough considering the Jazz—on top of having the best defensive effective field-goal percentage (eFG%)—are fourth in defensive rating.
Also, the pending status of Mitchell won’t hurt Utah’s defense much since the Jazz’s defense is 10.2 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the floor, according to CleaningTheGlass.com.
Over/Under (O/U)
Slight “LEAN” toward OVER 224.5 (-110) for a quarter-unit because I think the Jazz bounce back from a subpar night they had Wednesday in a 111-107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Also, Chicago has allowed 120 or more points in four of its past seven games. That being said, the last Bulls-Jazz game went Under the total by 12.5 points and both leading scorers from that game (Mitchell and LaVine) could miss Friday’s meeting.
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Also see:
- Bet Slippin’ Podcast: 2021 MLB American League Betting Preview
- Hoops Hype rumors: Bulls | Jazz
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