Chicago Bulls (24-27) vs Portland Trail Blazers (25-26)
Game Info: Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 8:00 pm (United Center)
Betting Odds: Chicago Bulls -4.5 -- Over/Under: 232.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: NBC Sports Chicago, ROOT SPORTS PLUS Stream live sports and exclusive originals on ESPN+. Sign up now! 
The Portland Trail Blazers invade the United Center to take on the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
The Portland Trail Blazers have been in great shape as they’ve won five of their last six games overall and they will be gunning for a fourth straight victory after beating the Wizards in a 124-116 road win last night. Anfernee Simons led the team in scoring with 33 points and six assists, Damian Lillard added 29 points with six assists while Josh Hart and Trendon Watford each scored 21 points. As a team, the Trail Blazers shot 48 percent from the field and 17 of 41 from the 3-point line as they struggled to get going and scored just 19 points in the first half to fall behind by as many as 20 points, but they must’ve had a good halftime speech because they dominated the second half by 73-47 to win comfortably in the end.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls have been in decent shape as they’ve won five of their last eight games overall and they will be eager to stay hot after blowing past the Hornets in a 114-98 home win on Thursday. Ayo Dosunmu led the team with 22 points on nine of 10 shooting, Coby White added 20 points off the bench while Nikola Vucevic tallied 17 points with 12 rebounds and six assists. As a team, the Bulls shot 51 percent from the field and 11 of 28 from the 3-point line as they went back and forth with the Hornets in a tightly-contested first half, before they used a 19-9 run in the third quarter to pull away and win comfortably in the end.
Looking at the betting trends, the Trail Blazers are 4-0 ATS in their last four games playing on zero days’ rest, 2-5 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a losing record and 1-8 ATS in their last nine road games. The Bulls are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 home games and 3-0-1 ATS in their last four Saturday games.
Head to head, the over is 4-1-1 in the last six meetings in Chicago, the Trail Blazers are 8-3 ATS in the last 11 meetings overall and the Trail Blazers are 6-1 ATS in the last seven meetings in Chicago.
The Trail Blazers are shorthanded again as Justise Winslow and Jusuf Nurkic are both out while Gary Payton is listed as day to day. The Bulls have their own issues as Lonzo Ball is still out while Patrick Williams and Alex Caruso are both questionable. The Trail Blazers are currently one of the hottest teams in the league but it’s always scary betting on a team that is playing their second game of a back to back set. The Bulls have been playing decent basketball, but the Trail Blazers are 6-1 ATS in the last seven meetings in Chicago and I think they can stay hot with another win here.
Peter’s Pick Portland +4.5
AUTHOR: Peter Tran
Mitch's Take...
