Washington Wizards (18-17) vs Chicago Bulls (23-10)
Game Info: Saturday, January 1, 2022 at 7:00 pm (Capital One Arena)
Betting Odds: Washington Wizards +2.5 -- Over/Under: 214.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
The Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards duke it out at the Capital One Arena on Saturday night.
The Chicago Bulls have been in fine form as they’ve won 10 of their past 12 games overall and they will be gunning for a seventh straight victory after outlasting the Pacers in a thrilling 108-106 road win last night. DeMar DeRozan led the team with 28 points and six assists, Coby White drained six 3-pointers on his way to 24 points, Zach LaVine added 17 points while Nikola Vucevic chipped in with 14 points, 16 rebounds and four assists. As a team, the Bulls shot 40 percent from the field and 12 of 27 from the 3-point line as they got off to a quick start and led for most of the game, before turning to DeRozan who delivered with the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to steal the win for the Bulls.
Meanwhile, the Washington Wizards have been in a slump as they’ve lost nine of their past 13 games and they will be hoping to build some momentum after routing the Cavaliers in a 110-93 home win on Thursday. Bradley Beal led the team with 29 points and 10 assists, Kyle Kuzma added 25 points with 10 rebounds on 11 of 17 shooting while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in with 12 points. As a team, the Wizards shot 50 percent from the field and nine of 29 from the 3-point line as they held the Cavaliers to 21 points in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead into halftime, before pouring in 33 points in the third quarter to lead by as many as 21 points.
Looking at the betting trends, the Bulls are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games playing on zero days’ rest, 5-2 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a winning record and 4-0 ATS in their last four games overall. The Wizards are 4-0 ATS in their last four games against a team with a winning record, 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games playing on one days’ rest and 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall.
Head to head, the under is 19-8 in the last 27 meetings in Washington, the Bulls are 7-2 ATS in the last nine meetings overall and the Bulls are 8-1 ATS in the last nine meetings in Washington.
The Bulls will be shorthanded once again as Alex Caruso and Ersan Ilyasova are both listed as out, while the Wizards will be missing Montrezl Harrell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans. The Bulls are playing this one on zero days’ rest, but they will take plenty of confidence from last night’s thrilling win over the Pacers and I think they should be too good for the shorthanded Wizards in this spot.