Bulls and Raptors Meet Tonight in NBA Betting Clash

We are at the stage of the NBA season where it’s time to seriously start thinking about which teams are legitimate contenders, and which will serve as practice fodder for the eventual champs. There are a few teams that jump right off the page, but then there are others that are a little harder to figure out. Two that fall into the latter category, the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls, go head to head at the United Center on Friday night, here’s our NBA betting preview for the match. Date: Friday, March 20, 2015 Time: 8:00PM Venue: United Center Opening Line: Chicago -1.5

NBA Betting Analysis and Game Preview

If you had asked about the Raptors a month or so ago, it would have been fair to say that they were definitely among the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. They are a team that scores for fun, they are running away with their division, and they spent the majority of the season occupying the second spot behind the Atlanta Hawks, who are not about to be caught. As we entered the final week in February, though, things started to go off the rails for the Raptors. From that point forward, they have gone just 4-10 and are barely clinging on to 3rd spot in the East. The Raptors were always a team that were going to give up some points, but they have been bleeding at an awful rate during this stretch. They have put together two straight wins, though, and the signs are that they may be on the road to recovery. The story with the Bulls is one that has an all too familiar ring to it. Like the Raptors, Chicago was cruising along very nicely, but as seems to happen every season, Derrick Rose hobbled off the court with yet another long term injury. The Bulls have struggled to find any sort of consistency since then, and have gone just 4-6 in their last 10. There is a very real possibility that they could slip to 5th in the conference if they don’t get things together pretty quickly, especially with Washington now winning 5 straight and quickly moving up the conference standings. Much of the Bulls struggles have come on the road, and they did rebound nicely with a solid 103-86 home court win versus the Indiana Pacers.

Key Betting Trends

Chicago is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games Chicago is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago’s last 6 games Chicago is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games at home Chicago is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games at home Toronto is 4-10 ATS in its last 14 games Toronto is 4-10 SU in its last 14 games The total has gone OVER in 7 of Toronto’s last 10 games Toronto is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games on the road Toronto is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games on the road

What Should You Bet On?

The Bulls have not been a team that Toronto has had success with this season, losing both of the previous meetings. That said, I think they are in a much better state of mind than the Bulls right now, which means I believe they can pull out the road win in a high-scoring affair.