A familiar face will make his return to the United Center sidelines tonight as the head coach of the impressive New York Knicks. The Knicks were left for dead last season, but Tom Thibodeau seems to have them on a better track in 2021.
At 9-12, the Knicks sit just ahead of the Bulls (7-11) in the eastern conference standings. Despite being under the .500 mark, they have wins over the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics (held Boston to 75 points), and the league-leading Utah Jazz.
As they come to Chicago Monday night, the Bulls will be playing with a chip on their shoulder after three straight losses, including a heartbreaker against the TrailBlazers over the weekend.
Three Best Bets For Bulls vs. Knicks
Bulls To Cover (-3.5), Match Total Over 218.5 (+260)
Right now, the Knicks are playing better basketball. But if you take a look into why the Bulls have lost three games in-a-row you’ll see that they’ve played against four of the best players in the NBA in those games.
The Knicks’ best overall player is Julius Randle. With all due respect to Randle, he is not the same type of player as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, and Jayson Tatum.
The Bulls offense has been very impressive this year, as almost all of their numbers are up across the board. Out of 18 games, they’ve been held under 100 points only twice. I like the Bulls at home and the over, behind the scorching hot scoring Zach LaVine.
LaVine Over 3.5 Three-Pointers Made (+115)
Zach LaVine is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA today. In his last five games, he’s attempted at-least six shots from distance. As long as his 42% shooting from beyond the arc continues, Billy Donovan will continue to give him the green light.
It’s very important to note that the Knicks have the top-ranked defense in the NBA this season. They are first in opponents points allowed, field goal percentage, and three-point field goal percentage.
Against two other top three defensive teams (Lakers, Clippers), LaVine has shot over 50% from three (15/29 in three games).
Julius Randle Over 10.5 Rebounds (-115)
The Bulls will remain without their best interior defender and rebounder Wendell Carter Jr. for several weeks after he suffered a severe quad contusion. Randle is one of the most versatile big men in the league. It’s going to be up to Thaddeus Young and Daniel Gafford tonight to keep him in check.
I really like Randle to have double-digit rebounds tonight.
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