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Bulls vs Magic NBA Betting Lines & Prediction in Mexico City.

Bulls vs Magic NBA Betting Lines & Prediction in Mexico City

Written by on December 13, 2018

NBA News and Rumors
The Chicago Bulls have been nothing short of a dumpster fire this season and it’s frankly hard to see a game in the near future where they have a chance to be favored on the NBA Odds. They sure aren’t Thursday night against the Orlando Magic in Mexico City.

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Team Records

  • All: Chicago Bulls 6-22 / Orlando Magic 12-15
  • Home: Chicago Bulls 4-11 / Orlando Magic 6-8
  • Away: Chicago Bulls 2-11 / Orlando Magic 6-7
  • ATS: Chicago Bulls 13-15 / Orlando Magic 15-12
  • Over/Under: Chicago Bulls 9-18-1 / Orlando Magic 10-17

Season Series

The first meeting of the year, with Chicago winning all four a season ago. The Magic have lost seven of the last eight meetings with the Bulls and 17 of the last 23 regular season matchups.

Why is this game in Mexico City? It’s an effort to raise the Magic’s international profile and to boost Amway’s sales abroad. Orlando will also “host” Utah on Saturday. The DeVos family, which owns the Magic, co-founded Amway, and those ongoing ties to Amway played a role in the Magic’s decision to play in Mexico City. The Magic’s games against the Bulls and the Jazz will be the NBA’s 27th and 28th preseason or regular-season games in Mexico since 1992 — the most NBA games held in any country other than the United States and Canada.

Why Bet on Chicago?

The Bulls are playing in their first ever neutral-site regular season game outside of the United States. They are pretty terrible and have only gotten worse since firing Coach Fred Hoiberg. They suffered the worst home loss in franchise history on Saturday vs. Boston and then followed that with a 108-89 home loss to Sacramento on Monday. The Bulls led 33-26 at the end of the first quarter and 56-45 at halftime.

Chicago had a 66-57 lead in the third before Sacramento closed the quarter with a 24-8 run. The Bulls shot 22 for 41 (53.7 percent) from the field in the first half but were just 6 for 16 (37.5 percent) in the third.

Kris Dunn (knee) scored nine points with six assists and three rebounds in 20 minutes Monday against the Kings. Making his first appearance since October 22, Dunn was placed on a minutes restriction of 20-24 minutes. Despite that restriction, he led the team in assists. Bobby Portis (knee) also returned from a long injury absence and had nine points with eight rebounds in 18 minutes.

Zach LaVine scored 19 points with two rebounds, two assists, three steals, and three 3-pointers in 32 minutes. Lauri Markkanen scored 13 points (5-of-16 FG) with six rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one 3-pointer in 28 minutes. Shooting 39.4% from three entering Monday’s action, Markkanen struggled with his perimeter shot against the Kings.

Justin Holiday has made at least one 3-pointer in 39-straight games, the longest streak in Bulls history and the longest of his career. Holiday has made at least one 3-pointer in all 28 games this season, the only player in the NBA to do so. Rookie Wendell Carter Jr. has recorded at least one block in 23 of 28 games this season. His 1.54 blocks per game is third among rookies.

Why Bet on Orlando?

The Magic lost their third in a row Monday, 101-76 in Dallas. The Mavs never trailed. Jonathon Simmons scored a season-high 18 for the Magic and Aaron Gordon had 10. Orlando played without Evan Fournier, who missed the game for personal reasons, and Mo Bamba, who was suspended by coach Steve Clifford for a violation of team rules.

In his postgame comments, Clifford described the suspension as a “one-game thing,” so that bodes well for Bamba playing here. The sixth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Bamba is averaging 6.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 17.0 minutes per game. Fournier is expected to be available to play Thursday as well.

Nikola Vucevic (ankle sprain) scored eight points (4-of-15 FG) with 16 rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot in 31 minutes Monday. Vucevic entered Monday’s have having tallied a double-double in four consecutive games.

Bulls vs Magic should be an easy victory for Orlando.

Simmons tweaked his right ankle during practice on Wednesday morning in Mexico City and was not able to finish the practice, and he iced on his foot as the session ended. He’s questionable.

Orlando is 6-7 this season on the road. Their six wins are tied for the fourth-most in the Eastern Conference (as of Dec. 12). The Magic were 8-33 on the road last season. The Magic are averaging 104.6 ppg. (2,823 points) this season, scored 100+ points 16 times (10-6 record) and 110+ points 11 times (6-5 record), including a season-high 131 points on Nov. 18 vs. New York. The Magic averaged 103.4 ppg last season.

The Magic are shooting .450 (1,080-2,402) from the floor this season and shot 50 percent or better seven times (5-2 record), including a season-high 57.1 percent (48-84) on Nov. 18 vs. New York.

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Bulls vs Magic NBA Betting Trends

  • Bulls are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings
  • Under is 16-5 in the last 21 meetings
  • Underdog is 21-8 ATS in the last 29 meetings
  • Magic are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record
  • Bulls are 1-9 SU in their last 10 games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago’s last 7 games
  • Magic are 0-5 SU in their last 5 games when playing Chicago
  • The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Orlando’s last 5 games when playing Chicago

Expert NBA Betting Prediction for Bulls vs Magic

Bulls are a mess – take Orlando.
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